
t 



A Study of the Thlingets 
of Alaska 



By 
LIVINGSTON F. JONES 




New York Chicago Toronto 

Fleming H. Re veil Company 

London and Edinburgh 



i^^ i 



Copyright, 1914, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 



New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 125 N. Wabash Ave. 
Toronto : 25 Richmond St., W. 
London : 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh : 100 Princes Street 



JAN 31 1814 



(i&'CI,A36J!40L 



PREFACE 

MANY books have been written on Alaska. 
In nearly all of tbem something has been 
said abont the natives, or aborigines, of the 
country. In some they are merely alluded to, 
while in others they are treated more or less com- 
prehensively. While some are reliable so far as 
they go, others abound with errors and contain 
statements about the natives which are not true. 
The same may be said about many articles that 
have appeared in various periodicals. 

It is evident to those who are intimately ac- 
quainted with the natives, that some writers have 
come to their work with little or no preparation. 
In truth, several of the books extant on Alaska, 
as well as scores of articles which have appeared 
in periodicals, have been written by tourists who 
had but limited opportunities of studying the na- 
tives and their customs. 

Some of the books, and not a few of the articles, 
were written on ' ' hurry-up ' ' orders, and by per- 
sons who had merely glanced at the country from 
the deck of a passing steamer. Hearsay and idle 
rumour furnished much of their contents. Some 
of them contain fake stories. Had their authors 
been more intent on publishing facts than on 
breaking into print such stories would never have 
been set up in cold type. A novelist may have 
some license in printing fiction, but he who pur- 
ports to be telling the truth should know whereof 
he speaks. 



6 PREFACE 

While there are several reliable works on 
Alaska in which much may be found concerning 
the lives of the aborigines, yet even more of inter- 
est has been left unsaid. For this reason the 
author feels his effort justified in order to give 
fuller and more accurate information to the public 
concerning these interesting people. 

Again, while this work treats almost exclusively 
of the Thlingets of Alaska, yet what is said of 
them largely applies to the other classes. 

The information imparted to the public in the 
following pages has been gleaned by the writer 
almost entirely from the natives themselves, either 
through their lips or by his own personal observa- 
tion. Having lived and laboured among them for 
more than twenty years, he has had exceptional 
opportunities of studying their customs and char- 
acteristics. He has read the books and articles 
appearing in periodicals relating to the natives. 
(Few exist that he has not read.) These were 
consulted not so much for information — ^he pre- 
ferred to get that at first hand — as to see what 
others had to say about the Alaskan and wherein 
they confirmed his own findings or differed with 
him. 

It has proved to the author a most fascinating 
study, and while necessarily there has been some 
drudgery connected with the preparation of the 
work, on the whole it lias been one of extreme 
pleasure. It is now offered to the public in the 
full consciousness that long and painstaking care 
has been given to its preparation, and if while 
not free from imperfections such errors are not 
there through slight. 

L. F. J. 

Juneau, Alaska. 



CONTENTS 



I. INTRODUCTORY 17 

Important Factors in the Lives of a People — The 
Country — Name — Area — Physical Features — Arch- 
ipelago — Channels — Mountains — Distance — Cli- 
mate — Mistaken Ideas — Climate Diversified — 
Kuro-Siwo Current — Vegetation — Resources — Re- 
quirements to Obtain Them — Industries. 

II. ABORIGINES OF ALASKA .... 23 

Native Population — Four Grand Divisions — Fanci- 
ful Divisions — Different Types of Language — The 
Thlingets — Their Villages — Their Tribes — The 
Two Great Totemic Divisions (Crow and Eagle) — 
Sub-division into Clans and Families — Difference 
in Dialect and Disposition. 

III. ORIGIN OP THE ALASKANS ;.. . . 27 

Different Theories Concerning Origin — The Mexi- 
can Theory — The North American Indian Theory — 
Prof. Wm. H. Dall's Position — Arguments in 
Favour of the Mongolian Theory — The Consensus 
of Opinion — The Author's Position — His Argu- 
ments in Support of the Mongolian Theory — The 
Testimony of Early Russians — Of Various Writers 
— J. W. Arctander's Position — Similarity of Cus- 
toms and Personal Resemblance Between Alaskans 
and Islanders — The Author's Deduction. 



IV. THE THLINGET LANGUAGE ... 35 

No Written Language — Handed down Orally from 
Generation to Generation — Many Words Obsolete — 
Word-building — Corruptions — Borrowed Words — 

7 



8 CONTENTS 

Chinook — Proper Names — Fathers Changing Name 
on Birth of First Child — Names Belonging to Cer- 
tain Tribes — Extent of the Thlinget Vocabulary — 
Abstract and Concrete Terms — Peculiarities of the 
Language — Deficiency of the Language Illustrated — 
Peculiarity of the Language When Spoken — Gram- 
matical Construction — Verbs — Gender — Structure 
of Sentences — Observation of the Author as to the 
Desirability of English over Thlinget. 

V. THE FAMILY 44 

Relation of Husband and Wife — Of Children to 
Parents — Treatment of Nephews and Nieces by 
Uncles and Aunts — The Fondness of Parents for 
Children — Illegitimates — Childbirth — Treatment 
of Babes — Weaning Children — Parental Indulgence 
of Children — Polyandry — Domestic Life — Cook- 
ing — Rovings — Dogs — Washing and Sewing — 
Gossiping — Quarrels — Status of Wife — No Serv- 
ants — Exceptions to Poor Housekeepers — Draw- 
backs to be Remembered. 

VI. THE COMMUNITY ....... 53 

Communities Independent — The Only Bond — WTiere 
Built — Advantages — Construction — Status of Na- 
tive — Early Building — Handicaps Years Ago — Ad- 
vantages and Improvements Now — Summer Camps 

— The Composition of Each Community — Public 
Utilities — Sanitary Conditions — The More Pro- 
gressive Natives — Social Life — Strata of Thlinget 
Society — Caste — The Chief — Change Communities 
Are Constantly Undergoing — Mixture of Whites 
and Natives. 

VII. PERSONAL APPEARANCE, DRESS AND 

ORNAMENTATION . . ... .. . 64 

Personal Appearance — Dress — Public Appearance 

— Dress in Earlier Times — Female Headgear — 
Finery for Fourth of July — Good Taste Acquired — 
Ornaiiu'iitation — Jewellery — Tlu^ Labret — By 
Wiiom Worn — Tattooing — Face Painting — Dress 
Ornamentation — Personal Carriage — Facial Looks 

— Standard of Beauty — Affiliation with Whites. 



CONTENTS 9 

VIII. INDUSTRIES .72 

Thiingets Self-supporting — Limited Industries — 
Main Industry, Fishing — Process of Catcliing Fish 
— Work in Canneries — Employment in Mines — 
Hunting and Trapping — Packing Supplies — Carv- 
ing in Wood and Metals — The Trades — Industries 
for Women — Chilkat Blankets — Canoe-building — 
War-canoes — Canoe-racing — Commercial Activi- 
ties — Capitalists — The Hydaburg Enterprise — 
Drawbacks to Commercial Life. 



IX. BASKETRY ...,.,.... 85 

Female Industry — Time and Labour Required to 
Prepare the Materials — Trade and Prices — Quality 
of Weaving — Lieut. G. T. Emmons on Basketry — 
Names of Baskets According to Design, Weave, 
Materials LTsed and Shape — Weights and Measures 
— Sizes of Baskets — Names According to What 
They Are Used For — Baskets for Cooking — 
Mother-of-Baskets — Colourings — Care Needed in 
Splitting Fibres — Tools Used — Position of Basket- 
weavers — Weaving — Vending Baskets. 



X. TRAITS . ,., ., ...... 92 

Independence — Vanity — Sensitiveness — Things Re- 
garded as Shameful and Disgraceful — Revengeful 
— Jealousy — Crafty — Politic — Not Avaricious — 
Spendthrifts — Fickle — Unreliable — Undemonstra- 
tive — Fortitude — Affection for Kindred — Hospi- 
tality — Sociability — Fond of Amusements — Ob- 
servant — Fluency of Speech — Gratitude. 



XI. FOOD ., ., ..... ., . .103 

Liberal Endowment of Food — Fish, the Principal 
Food — Varieties — Salmon — Halibut — Herring — 
Fish for Oils — Oolikan — Herring Spawn — Salmon 
Roe — Delicacies — Land Animals — Fowl — Shell- 
fish — Berries — Vegetables — Seaweed — White 
Man's Food. 



10 CONTENTS 

XII. EXTINCT CUSTOMS 112 

Customs Divided into Three Classes — First, Obso- 
lete Customs — War — Motives for War — Warriors 
— Methods of Warfare — Prisoners of War — War 
with Aleuts, Sticks and Russians — The Famous 
Chief, Katlian — The Wrangell and Sitka Mas- 
sacres — Attacks on Russians Justified — Jealous 
Feuds — Implements of War — Slavery — Extent of 
Slavery — Treatment of Slaves — Manumission of 
Slaves — Cremation — Belief Concerning the Burn- 
ing of the Dead — Polygamy — The Toughening 
Process — Infanticide — Tattooing — Gambling — 
Gambling Pegs and Method of Playing — The Game 
Called Nagon — Other Games. 



XIII. WANING CUSTOMS 125 

Waning Customs — Witchcraft — Marriage — Meth- 
ods — The Dowry — Barriers to Marriage — Marry- 
ing Blood Relations — Marrying out of Respect to 
the Wishes of the Dying — Levirate Marriages — 
Child Marriages — Love-matches — Rules Pertaining 
to Marriage — Trial Before Marriage — Miscegena- 
tion — Seizure of Property Custom — The Custom 
of Confining Girls When Approaching Womanhood. 



XIV. PRESENT-DAY CUSTOMS .... 135 

The Native Feast — Events Calling for Feasts — 
Obligations Discharged at Feasts — Guests — Com- 
memorative Feasts — Other Feasts — The Potlatch 
— Motive for Giving Potlatch — Amoimt Given 
Away — Dancing in Connection with Feasts — The 
Attendance — Ceremony on Arrival of Guests — 
Paraphernalia Used — Period of Time Covered — 
Rules Governing Potlatches — Dancing — Nature of 
the Dance — Diirerent Dances — Position and Mo- 
tions of Dancers — Time, How Kept — Performance 
Highly Spectiicular — The Big Dance at Angoon — 
The Absurd Custom of Brothers and Sisters Not 
Speaking to Each Other — The Domination of 
Custom. 



CONTENTS 11 

XV. THE DISPOSITION OF THE DEAD . 147 

Death Sets in Motion Many Customs — What Fol- 
lows the Death of a Chief — Lying in State — The 
Widow's Position — Other Mourners — Gathering 
Things for the Feast for the Dead — Service of tlie 
Missionary — Burial of Things with the Dead — The 
Feast for the Dead — Dressing the Dying for Burial 

— Remuneration of Those Who Assist in Any Way — 
Grave Fences and Tomhstones — Disposition of the 
Bodies of Those Lower than Chiefs — In the Days 
of Cremation — Thlingets' Fondness for Feasting for 
the Dead — Commemorative Feasts — Peculiar Cus- 
toms Connected with Burial — Embalming — Burial 
Now the Universal Custom — Signs of Mourning. 

XVI. SHAMANISM AND SUPERSTITIONS . 154 

Witches— The Ikt — The Office of Shaman — Para- 
phernalia of Shaman — Propitiation of Evil Spirits 

— Compensation of Shaman — The Witch — Treat- 
ment of the Witch — Native Terror of Witches — 
What the Accusation of Being a Witch Means — 
Cases of Witchcraft That Have Come to the Author's 
Notice — Witch-medicine — The Superstitious Re- 
gard for the Ikt — The Ikt's Burial Place — His 
Body Embalmed — Taboos in Connection with the 
Ikt — Regarded as a Prophet — Performance of the 
Ikt — Other Superstitions — Belief in the Existence 
of Evil Spirits — Evil Omens — Taboos — Charms — 
Love-potions — Belief in Animals Understanding 
Human Speech — Superstition in Regard to Drown- 
ing — As to What a Wife Should Do While Hus- 
band Is Hunting — In Connection with Births — 
Dreams — Supernatural Properties of Medicine — 
Superstitions Practised When Fishing. 

XVII. TOTEMISM 168 

The Subject — Misrepresentations — Totem Poles 
Not Idols — Crest — Ko-te-a — Totemie Divisions 

— Toteraism the Foundation of Entire Social Struc- 
ture — Origin of Totemism — Marriage and Totem- 
ism — Rank and Totemism — Other Things That 



12 CONTENTS 

Totemism Governs — Totemism Recorded History, 
Genealogy, Legend, Memoriam, Commemoration and 
Art — Classes of Totem Poles — Totem Pole Work- 
manship — Making of Totem Poles a Waning Art 
— House Totems or Crests — Clan Emblems — Kok- 
won-ton Tribe — The Adoption of Crests. 



XVIIL LEGENDS 181 

Myths and Legends — Legendary Lore Handed 
down Orally — When and by Whom Handed Down 

— Purposes of Telling Legends — Legend of Sculpin. 

— Of the Crow and the Deer — Yalkth, the Creator 

— Legend of the Origin of the Mosquito — Of the 
Whale Tribe — Of the Beaver Crest — Of the Wolf 
Crest — Of the Earthquake — Of the Crow Making 
Man — Of the Origin of the Topknot of the Bluejay 

— Myth Builders Primitive Philosophers — The 
Legend of a Flood — Legends Recounting Thrilling 
Events — Attack of the Devilfish — The Totem in 
Pioneer Square, Seattle — Legends on House Totems 

— Legends Embodied in Songs — Concerning Mt. 
Edgecumbe — Concerning Lake Near Kluckwan — 
Concerning Madam Skoog-wa. 



XIX. NATIVE JUEISPRUDENCE . . .193 

No Government — No Trials, Courts, Jails, etc. — 
Offences Redressed by Tribe — Life for Life — Caste 
Determines What Life — Accidental Killing Must 
bo Atoned for as Well as Intentional Killing — 
Instances Cited — Ludicrous Cases — Instances Cited 
Where Caste Governs Damages — A Father's Lia- 
bility to His Own Child — One Saved from Death 
Becomes Slave of His Rescuer — All Loans Bring 
100 Per Cent Interest — Motive for Giving — In- 
stances Cited — Exorbitant Charges for Services 
About the Dead — Old Grievances Often Revived — 
Instances Cited — Chief Has Ruling Voice Concern- 
ing Sittlcments — Thlingets Have Laws and En- 
force Them — They Sometimes Get Double Punish- 
ment. 



CONTENTS 13 



XX. MUSIC AND AMUSEMENTS . . .203 

Love of Music and Amusements — Singing — Band 
Music — Congregational Singing — Native Songs — 
Songs Used at Feasts and Potlatches — When Com- 
posed — Songs of Recent Composition — The Chant 

— Amusements — Games and Athletic Sports — 
Socials — The Game of " Ha-goo " — Children Fond 
of Toys — Games of Contest — Jokes and Witticisms 

— Appreciation of Humour — Amusing Incidents 

— The Phonograph at Funeral — Stopping Funeral 
Procession for Hearse — Incidents at Weddings — 
In Church — How the First Steamboat Was Re- 
garded — Their Great Astonishment over the First 
Negro Seen — Over Men with Wooden Leg, Wig, 
False Teeth, etc. 



XXL MOEALITY 212 

DiflFerent Standards of Morality — That of the Na- 
tive and of the White Man Compared — Matters of 
Shame and Disgrace with the Thlingets — Un- 
just Charges — Diflference in Marriage Ceremony — 
Care of Daughters — Drunkenness — Soldiers and 
Native Debauchery — Rum, the Arch-Evil — Theft 
— Murder — Suicide — Abortion — Prostitution — 
Truthfulness — Honour — Profanity — Vice — Good 
Characters. 



XXII. DISEASES 221 

Diseases of Recent Introduction — Consumption — 
Dr. Paul C. Hutton's Report — Smallpox — Venereal 
Diseases — Syphilis — Measles and Whooping-cough 

— Original Diseases of Thlingets — Osseous Tuber- 
culosis — Ophthalmia — Pott's Disease — Insanity 
and Idiocy — Sanitation — Sewerage — Teachers and 
Sanitation — Medicines and Remedies — Bleeding 

— Treatment of Ulcers and Sores — Use of Natu- 
ral Mineral Springs — Steam Bathing — Fasting — 
" Rubbers " — Nursing the Sick — The Crying Need 
of the Natives — The Climate on Health — Freaks 

— Blindness — The Better Class Wlxo Know how to 
Care for Themselves. 



U CONTENTS 

XXIIL RELIGION 231 

The Religious Factor — Not Demonologists — 
Strictly Speaking, Not Spiritualists — Belief in 
Spirits — This the Foundation of Shamanism — 
Ghosts — Not Animal Worshippers — Not Nature 
Worshippers — Immortality — Transmigration of 
Soul — Future Place of Soul — Tradition About 
One Soul Returning — Propitiation of Evil Powers 
— Originally No Term for God — Their Cosmology 
' — Work of the Russian Church — Protestant Mis- 
sions — Testimonies to the W^ork of the Church — 
Conclusion. 



XXIV. EDUCATION 245 

The Initial Move in the Education of the Native — 
The First School Established at Wrangell, 1877 — 
Schools in Connection with Missions — First In- 
terest Shown by the U. S. Government in the Edu- 
cation of the Natives — Censurable Neglect — A 
Decade of Feeble Effort — Schools in Various Vil- 
lages — The Leading Industrial Training School at 
Sitka Under tlie Auspices of the Presbyterian 
Church — Ex-Governor A. P. Swineford's Testi- 
mony — The New Up-to-date Mission Plant — The 
Government's Neglect — Its Effort to Graft Indian 
Training on to the Ordinary Day School — The 
Futility of It — Native Aptitude for Trades — Prog- 
ress They Have Made Despite the Deficient Sys- 
tem — Need Opportunities — Reason for Educating 
Them Here — Tlioir Knowledge of English — What 
Will Be True of Them a Generation Hence. 



INDEX 255 



A STUDY OF THE THLINGETS 
OF ALASKA 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



" Lovers' Walk " . 


Frontispiece - 






OPPOSITE PAGK 


Pearl Harbour, Alaska 




. 18 - 


Chilkat and Vicinity 




. 24: y 


Children—" Posing " 




. 44"' 


Auk Village . 




. 50 


Treadwell Gold Mine 




. 72 i^ 


Baskets .... 




. 82 


Natives Vending Curios . 




. 88 


Chilkat Potlatch Dancing . 




. 138 ■ 


Totem Pole 




. 156 


Chilkat Blanket and Woman 




. 168 


Numerous Curios 




. 178 


House Totems and Interesting 


Objects 


. 188 


Juneau, Alaska 




. 194 


Juneau Native Band . 




. 200 


A Trout Stream 




. 236 


Map of Alaska . 




. 254 



I 

INTEODUCTOEY 

THE geography, climate and resources of a 
country are important factors in the lives 
of its people, as their customs and char- 
acteristics are largely determined by their en- 
vironment. The native of Mexico is a different 
type of man from the native of Canada; and the 
difference is largely due to the differences between 
their respective countries. 

This is true even with people of the same race. 
Italy, with its salubrious climate and agrarian 
resources, produces a different type from that 
found in cold and rugged Norway. 

In a treatise setting forth the traits, customs, 
industries and institutions of a people it is neces- 
sary, to the better understanding of these things, 
to first describe their country, its climate and 
resources. Hence this introductory chapter. 

The word " Alaska " has been so often defined 
it would seem every one must know by this time 
that it means '' Big Country." The term, we 
are told, is an abbreviation or corruption of the 
native word Al-ak-sak or Al-ay-ek-sa, meaning 
" Great Country." * The word Al-ak-shak is not 
of Thlinget origin, but evidently originated with 
the Eskimos. It is strikingly appropriate, for 
the land may well be called " great." 

*" Alaska," Sheldon Jackson, page 14. 

17 



18 INTRODUCTORY 

To say that Alaska has an area of over 617,703 
square miles gives but a faint impression of its 
immensity. It is better understood by com- 
parison. Its area is about equal to the United 
States east of the Mississippi River. 

The coast line of Alaska is even more remark- 
able than the area. In extent, and probably in its 
physical features, it surpasses that of any other 
country on the globe. The physical features of 
the coast have marked influence on the lives of 
the Thlingets, making them expert seamen and 
fishermen. 

The part of Alaska occupied by these people 
is a vast archipelago, containing more than a 
thousand islands, varying in size from an acre to 
thousands of square miles. 

More villages of the Thlingets are seen on 
islands than on the mainland. Cozy harbours 
with fine beaches are chosen for town-sites. As 
the native is a seafaring man he wants his home 
at the water's edge. His canoe is always at his 
door ready for use at a moment's notice. 

The islands are mostly mountainous with bold 
and rocky shores. Pretty beaches are found here 
and there, but they are not numerous. All of the 
straits and most of the bays of the archipelago 
feel the influence of the ocean currents and storms. 
Some of them are very rough at times and ex- 
ceedingly dangerous to navigate, yet the natives 
rove over them at will in their frail canoes. They 
often go to sea way out of sight of land without 
compass or chart, yet they find their way back. 

A mountain chain fringes the main shore, con- 
taining numerous mountains of no mean propor- 
tions. Many of them tower thousands of feet into 
the air and are eternally crowned with snow. Sev- 



CLIMATE 19 

eral volcanoes are found in the range. At present 
inactive, they are liable to burst forth at any time. 
These mountains, as a rule, are well clothed with 
trees and shrubbery. Practically every foot of 
space, both on the islands and the mainland, is 
wooded. Arms of the ocean indent the mainland, 
some of them being more than a hundred miles 
long. 

Alaska is a country of magnificent distances, 
and no one thinks anything of travelling, even in 
small craft, several hundred miles. The writer 
has made trips of over four hundred miles in an 
open dory, carrying a tent, camping nights, and 
crossing large bodies of water. The natives travel 
hundreds of miles every year in their canoes. We 
are reliably informed that years ago they went 
as far south as San Francisco in these little 
vessels. It is a matter of undisputed fact that 
they frequently went for trade to Victoria, a thou- 
sand miles from the tribes farthest north. 

Climate 

Notwithstanding all that has been written and 
said to the contrary, the impression still prevails 
to a large extent that Alaska is a bleak, barren 
and frigid country. Nothing could be more er- 
roneous so far, at least, as the south coast is con- 
cerned. ^' Probably no other section of this con- 
tinent presents such a diversity of climate as 
Alaska." * '' In a country as extended as Alaska, 
with its large rolling plains, wide valleys and high 
mountains, there is necessarily a wide diversity of 
climate. " f "As well might a person ask about 



* " Alaska," Bruce, page 26. 
t " Alaska," Jackson, page 52. 



W INTRODUCTORY 

the climate of tlie United States without particu- 
larity, as to propound the same inquiry concern- 
ing Alaska." * 

The climate of Alaska, like that of the United 
States, varies according to the locality and the 
season of the year. The section of the country 
occupfed by the Thlingets seldom experiences the 
extremes of heat and cold. '' Zero weather is a 
rare occurrence in Sitka, and there have been win- 
ters when the temperature seldom fell to the freez- 
ing point." " What is true of Sitka in this regard 
applies to all of southeastern Alaska." 

The mean winter temperature of southeastern 
Alaska is about that of Washington, D. C. Navi- 
gation in this part of the country is open every 
day in the year. During the writer's long period 
of residence in Alaska, he has not seen a day when 
steamers could not land at the local wharves. This 
relative mildness of winter on the south coast of 
the territory is due in part, at least, to the warm 
Japanese (Kuro-Siwo) current which crosses the 
Pacific and splits on the Aleutian islands, one 
branch flowing north and the other south along 
the coast. 

The summers in southeastern Alaska, the home 
of the Thlingets, are cool and moist. Nothing is 
more convincing as to the climate of Alaska than 
its vegetation. Great varieties of small fruits, 
such as strawberries, raspberries, huckleberries, 
cranberries, thimbleberries, salmonberries, cur- 
rants, crabapples, and others are native to the soil, 
while all kinds of hardy vegetables are easily and 
abundantly cultivated there. A great variety of 
wild flowers, among them the daisy, dandelion, 

• " Alaska : Its Resources, Climate and History," Swineford, 
page 91. 



RESOURCES 21 

violet, rose and bluebell prove its temperate cli- 
mate. The presence of butterflies, hummingbirds 
and robins also testifies that Alaska is not peren- 
nially frigid. 

With less moisture, the summers of south- 
eastern Alaska would be ideal. As it is, they are 
preferable to some of the hot regions of the 
States. The climate is neither so hot as to ener- 
vate nor so cold as to paralyze human efforts. 

Eesoukces 

The resources of a country, like the climate, 
have much to do with the habits and character of 
its people. In sunny climes, where breadstuffs 
grow without cultivation, and may be plucked any 
hour the inhabitant wishes to appease his hunger, 
we find a different character from that in the 
country where man has to wrest his living from 
the soil, the forest, or the water, by hard work 
and exposure. 

While the resources of Alaska are varied and 
abundant, yet they are such as to demand of him 
who would obtain them industry, strength, en- 
durance, courage and, in many instances, in- 
genuity. 

*' This is the law [of Alaska], and ever she makes 
it plain: 
Send not your foolish and feeble; send me your 
strong atid your sane." 

The principal natural food resources of the 
Thlingets are fish, game and berries, and of these 
there is great variety. 

Some kinds of fish and all berries may be had 



22 INTRODUCTORY 

only in their season, wMcli is sliort. For winter 
consumption, these must be secured in their sea- 
son, and properly cured and preserved. To this 
extent, at least, the people are provident. Venison 
and halibut may be had fresh the year round, yet 
they are also cured to some extent for winter use. 
Fish and seal oils are put up in summer, as well 
as delicacies, such as seaweed and herring. 

The native of Alaska must not only hunt the 
game that he uses for food, thus requiring 
strength, labour and courage, but when he kills it 
he must dress and cook it before eating it. He 
must also provide fuel both to cook his food and 
to give him warmth. 

Such requirements are not calculated to encour- 
age indolence, and we find, as a rule, that the 
Thlinget is industrious, hardy and brave. He 
sails the deep in frail and cranky canoes, scours 
the forest for ferocious animals, and often meets 
his human antagonist without fear. 

Of late years industries introduced by the white 
man have sprung up in this country which open 
new avenues of emplojnnent for the native. The 
mines, canneries, sawmills, fisheries, and other in- 
dustries call for his brawn, if not his brain. En- 
lightenment is creating new and varied desires 
which impel him to greater exertion. 



,11 

ABORIGINES OF ALASKA - 

AT the present day there are not, all told, more 
than thirty thousand of the aboriginal stock 
in Alaska. These are scattered over the vast 
domain, no one locality being thickly populated. 
The native population has been slowly decreasing. 

Excluding the minor tribes known as Hydahs 
and Tsimpsheans, the natives fall into four great 
divisions. 

In their natural order, travelling north from 
Ketchikan, the first port of call, they are the 
Thlingets of Southern Alaska, the Tinneh of the 
Interior, the Aleuts of the southwestern pan- 
handle, and the Eskimos inhabiting the shores of 
Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. These main 
divisions are again subdivided into tribes and 
families. 

Different writers give different divisions of the 
natives of Alaska, some of these being not only 
incorrect but fanciful. '' While there are twelve 
tribes, there are only two families, known as the 
ravens and eagles," seriously writes one author. 
Evidently the twelve tribes of Israel have given 
him a suggestion. 

There are not only two but various families of 
each great division. " The Indians (Alaskans) 
are again subdivided into various families, each of 
which has its family badge," says Dr. Sheldon 
Jackson. 

28 



24 ABORIGINES OF ALASKA 

Mrs. Ella Higginson, in her work on Alaska, 
goes to the other extreme by making only two 
divisions of the natives — the Thlingets (or coast 
Indians) and the Tinnehs (or interior Indians), 
making the Thlingets to comprise the Tsimp- 
sheans, Hydahs and Yakutats. But the Thlingets 
have a common language and the Tsimpsheans 
and Hydahs, who speak an entirely different lan- 
guage, should not be included with them. The 
Yakutats, on the other hand, speak the Thlinget 
tongue and should not be regarded as other than 
Thlingets. 

This same writer, who seems to have a predilec- 
tion for dual divisions, divides the Thlingets into 
two tribes, the Stikines and Sitkans. The Stikines 
and Sitkans are not tribes, but peoples of their 
respective localities, the same as those who live 
in Boston are Bostonians, whatever their nation- 
ality. 

Tourist writers fall into many errors when they 
assume to write about the natives, as they cannot 
be comprehended at a glance nor their customs 
understood without months, if not years, of close 
observation. 

Each division comprises people of a different 
type and language from all the others; each has 
its own specially well-defined territory and cli- 
mate, and the customs of the people in one differ 
in many respects from those in the others. The 
territory of each division is widely separated from 
that of the others. The Thlingets are hundreds 
of miles from the Aleuts, Tinnehs and Eskimos. 
It is as rare to see an Eskimo or an Aleut in the 
land of the Thlingets as in Cliicago, and an Eskimo 
is as much an object of curiosity to the Thlinget 
as to an inhabitant of Illinois. In over twenty 



t 



THEIR VILLAGES 25 

years of residence there the writer saw but 
three Eskimos, and these were witnesses in a 
suit. 

The Thlingets occupy a score or more of vil- 
lages in what is generally known as southeastern 
Alaska. The Tongass tribe embraces the natives 
in and around Tongass; the Hanega, those of 
Klawock and vicinity; the Stickeens, those at 
Wrangell; the Kaaks are in and near Kake; the 
Takoos and Auks are found at Juneau; the Sit- 
kans at Sitka; the Yakutats at Yakutat, and the 
Chilkats at Haines and vicinity. 

These communities are composed of different 
peoples. At Sitka we have the K6k-w6n-t6n', the 
Kak-sii'dy and the Kluk-na-hudy tribes; at 
Hoonah the Duk-dain-ton' and the Chu-ka-na'dy ; 
at Haines (or Chilkat) the K6k-w6n-t6n', Klu-ka- 
hu'dy, and the Duk-la-wa'dy ; at Juneau the Nush- 
ke-ton', the Auk and the Kle-na'dy. 

Where new communities have sprung up 
through the agency of the white man, such as 
Douglas, Skagway and Petersburg, the natives 
living in them are from various villages and 
tribes. They simply go to these places for em- 
ployment. They may live in such places indefi- 
nitely, but they never regard them as their 
homes. Ask a native, '' Where is your home? " 
and he will invariably name the village in which 
he was born. 

Besides the divisions already mentioned, the 
tribes are subdivided into clans and families, with 
their distinctive totemic badges or crests and fam- 
ily house (Hit). These divisions will be further, 
enumerated when we come to speak of totemism. 
The two great totemic divisions of the Thlingets 
are the Yalkth (Crow) and the Tschdh (Eagle). 



26 ABORIGINES OF ALASKA 

The various tribes come under one or the other of 
these main divisions. 

While the Thlingets from Tongass on the south 
to Chilkat on the north, a distance of over four 
hundred miles, are of the same stock and speak 
the same language, yet the enunciation is a little 
different in each community. One finds this an 
obstacle in using the language; if he learns it 
from the Chilkats and tries to speak it with the 
people of Wrangell he can scarcely make himself 
understood. Among the natives themselves, who 
are familiar with the different shades of enuncia- 
tion, there is little or no difficulty. 

Again, while these Thlingets are all of the same 
stock, some communities have been more pro- 
gressive than others. The Chilkats were always 
a haughty and aggressive people. For years they 
held and controlled the trade with the interior, or 
Tinneh, Indians, and even disputed the right of 
the white man to advance through their boundaries 
to the land beyond. The Hootz-na-oos of Angoon 
(Killisnoo) were of a turbulent and warlike dis- 
position for generations, and were only subdued 
by force of arms. The Auks (at Juneau) have 
always been regarded as a poor and spiritless 
class, and are more or less despised by the other 
natives. 

They are all a maritime people, and their main 
food supplies come from the water. The canoe 
(yiik) or boat (on-ta-yak-oo') is to the Thlinget 
what the camel is to the Bedouin of the desert. 



ni 

OEIGIN OF THE ALASKANS 

WHENCE came the natives of Alaska? This 
subject has invited much speculation and 
many conjectures. In the absence of any 
recorded history concerning them, the question 
will probably never be positively determined. 
Some have come to one conclusion and some to 
another. The consensus of opinion, however, 
points to an Asiatic origin. 

The theory that they are of Mexican origin has 
few to advocate it and very little to support it. 
It rests on the one fact that articles common to 
both have been found in Alaska. This proves 
nothing. The early Spanish explorers might have 
been the importers of these articles. Races wholly 
independent of each other have many things in 
common. The Hindoo of India has some things 
in common with the Mexican; and yet who 
would assert that the former sprang from the 
latter? 

It is only natural that different people, though 
occupying the very antipodes of the globe, should 
hit upon some ideas and produce some things 
alike. Human needs, especially where people 
stand on the same plane of life, are very much 
the same. 

The first implements of all untutored races 
would naturally be of stone; their first weapons, 
clubs, spears, bows and arrows; their clothing, 

27 



28 ORIGIN OF THE ALASKANS 

skins and furs. So the possession of some tilings 
in common does not prove relationship. 

The theory that the native of Alaska is an off- 
spring of the North American Indian stands about 
on the same par with the Mexican. 

Professor Dall, a man of exceptional ability, 
rather favours this view. He maintains, in one 
of his reports, that the natives of Alaska were 
once inhabitants of the interior of America, and 
that they were forced to the west and the north 
by tribes of Indians from the south. He makes 
the rather remarkable statement that he can in 
no way connect them with the Japanese or 
Chinese, either by dress, manner or language. 

This is surprising, coming as it does from a 
man of his intelHgence and research. Even 
tourists and transients passing through Alaska 
have observed the striking resemblance of native 
Alaskans to Japanese. The Thlingets, especially, 
seem so closely related to the people of the east 
coast of Asia, that a European traveller who had 
been around the world once remarked to a mis- 
sionary, " How many Japanese you have in 
Wrangell! " At the time there was not a Jap- 
anese in the place. The people he saw were native 
Alaskans. 

It is a common occurrence for these natives to 
be mistaken for Japanese. Some of them are 
facetiously called " Japs " by their own people. 
Minor W. Bruce, in ''Alaska," says: "Prof. 
Otis T. Mason of the same institution [Smith- 
sonian] takes the position that the emigration 
came from Asia to this continent, and that the 
Alaska Innuits are, undoubtedly, of Mongolian 
origin. 

*' We are also constrained to take this view, 



CONSENSUS OF OPINION 29 

and believe they once came across Bering Strait. 
The same straight black hair, olive complexion, 
small stature, almond-shaped eye and unusually 
small hands and feet, are, to our mind, unmistaka- 
ble evidence of kinship. 

* * They are not an inventive people, but are de- 
cidedly and emphatically imitative, a trait in the 
Japanese character always so conspicuous. And 
their genius seems best illustrated in the nicety 
of their carving," 

The Hon. Wm. H. Seward says : * ' I have min- 
gled freely with the multifarious population (of 
Alaska), the Tongas, the Stickeens, the Kakes, the 
Haidas, the Sitkas, the Kootnoos and the Chilkats, 
but all of them are manifestly of Mongol origin. 
All alike indulge the tastes, wear a physiognomy 
and are imbued with sentiments peculiarly noticed 
in China and Japan." 

Charles Replogle, for many years a missionary 
in Alaska, observes in his book, " Among the In- 
dians of Alaska," " The origin of the native is 
shrouded in the misty veil of the traditions of 
their past. There is much reason to believe they 
originally came from the continent of Asia. They 
have the eyes of a Japanese, or very much the 
same; the colour of their skin also resembles the 
Jap." 

The Hon. A. P. Swineford, once governor of 
Alaska, writes: " Various theories speculative as 
to their origin have been advanced. That those 
of the coast and the islands as far north as to 
where the Eskimos have their most southerly 
habitation, are a distinct race, without a drop of 
the blood of the American Indian in their veins, 
unless it be in some instances of cross breeding, 
is scarcely to be gainsaid. 



30 ORIGIN OF THE ALASKANS 

^' They are not Indians in the common accepta- 
tion of the term, but are, undoubtedly, of Asiatic 
origin. They are naturally bright and quick- 
witted people, with a Japanese cast of features." 

The Rev. J. P. D. Llwyd, of Seattle, in his inter- 
esting little book, " The Message of an Indian 
Eelic," says: '* Students of ethnology are not yet 
agreed as to their origin, although the weight of 
argument seems to support the view that they 
are a branch of the Asiatic peoples, and are near 
of kin to the Japanese, whose cast of features is 
strikingly reproduced, for instance, in the chil- 
dren seen by travellers in the Indian village of 
Sitka." ^ j^ ^ 

We discover traits in the^itives of Alaska 
found in the Mongolians. Themare both skilled 
carvers in wood, and in carvin^they draw the 
knife toward the body instead of shoving it away 
in Yankee style. Both have a fondness for squat- 
ting on the floor and for eating from one dish 
in common; both have profound reverence for 
their ancestors, the Mongolians literally wor- 
shipping them. The Alaskans have a strong 
predilection in this direction, as their feasts for 
the dead evidence. Both quickly adapt them- 
selves to the ways of progressive peoples. In 
this respect, the Alaskans are much superior to 
the Indians of the States. Centuries have elapsed 
since civilization was introduced to the latter, and 
yet many of them remain, practically speaking, 
savages. On the other hand, only a few years 
have elapsed since civilization, in any marked de- 
gree, was introduced to the former, and yet to-day 
we can find no savages among them, while many 
of them are fully enlightened. 

The Alaskan's docility marks him as one who 




r.ON'l'.KS \\A1.K 



IN SUPPORT OF MONGOLIAN THEORY 31 

has sprung from a different race than that of 
the wild, inflexible Indian of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. Then, too, the Alaskan is a maritime being, 
loving the sea as he loves his life. His home, if 
he is to be happy, must border on the same. Even 
the women are sailors. This trait corresponds 
with the sea-loving disposition of the Japs. 

Another fact which lends strong support to the 
theory is that the Alaskan coast is directly op- 
posite the shores of the Mongolian, and in one 
part, at least, not so very far away from them. 
This would afford an easy opportunity for any 
Japanese or Chinese adventurers to reach Alaska 
by design or accident. Columbus-like, some bold 
Asiatic adventurers may have landed upon the 
Alaskan shores, and from them may have sprung 
the new racial branch. Or, possibly, generations 
ago, some tempest-tossed Japanese or Chinese 
junk was driven upon our rugged Alaskan coast, 
and the occupants of this unfortunate craft formed 
the nucleus of the new race. Within recent years 
Asiatics have been stranded on these shores ; and 
why not some centuries ago? 

The Russians found in Kamchatka, before they 
discovered Alaska, Japanese writings and sailors. 
The Chukchi, the aborigines of Kamchatka, bore 
evidence of Mongolian origin. From this wing 
of the Asiatics might have come the Alaskans. In 
the summer time the trip from the country of the 
Chukchi to Alaska can be made in one day by 
canoe, and in the same time in winter by a swift 
reindeer team. 

The aborigines of Kamchatka were continually 
trying to impress upon the minds of their Russian 
masters that the people in Alaska were like them- 
selves. The early Russian historians bear wit- 



32 ORIGIN OF THE ALASKANS 

ness to this: ''In the other land [Alaska]," 
writes one, ' ' the people are like the Chukchi, with- 
out any government." 

*' Opposite the Cape [Noss]," writes another, 
'* lies an island [Diomedes] inhabited by people 
resembling the Chukchi. ' ' 

" The interpreters accompanying the expedi- 
tion [Waxel's] belong to the Korick and the Chuk- 
chi tribes . . . being in outward appearance? 
like themselves [the natives of Shumagin]." * 

'' There are able students of ethnology who in- 
sist upon the origin of these Alaskans being Asi- 
atic for various good and sufficient reasons, 
instancing not only their personal resemblance, 
but the similarity of their traditions and customs 
to those of the people of Asia. To have come 
thence it is remembered they had only to cross 
a narrow piece of water forty miles wide. This 
passage is frequently made in our time in open 
boats." 

But while the preponderance of facts is greatly 
in favour of an Asiatic origin for the aborigines 
of Alaska, there is still another view of the matter 
that merits some consideration. 

John W. Arctander, in '' The Apostle of 
Alaska," writes: '' Where the Tsimpshean origi- 
ally came from, it is impossible to ascertain. 
Those who associate them, even in the distant 
past, with the Japanese or the Koreans, certainly 
do not find any very good arguments for their 
contention. They perhaps drifted northward 
long ago from some tropical island in the Pa- 
cific. ' ' 

Mr. Arctander does not cite his reasons for 
holding this view of the origin of the Tsimp- 

* Bancroft. 



SIMILARITY TO ISLANDERS 33 

slieans. He probably bases his opinion on the 
similarity of customs between the two people. 

While it is true they have many customs and 
superstitions in common, yet this is no sure cri- 
terion by which to determine the origin of a peo- 
ple. It were just as reasonable to infer from such 
premises that the people of the islands in the 
Pacific sprang from the Alaskans. 

The negroes in the dark jungles of Africa have 
many superstitions and customs in common with 
the natives of Alaska, yet who would be justified 
in declaring, because of this fact, that the Alas- 
kans have sprung from the Africans? There is 
absolutely no relationship or connection between 
the two races. 

There is scarcely a custom of the Alaskans that 
does not have its counterpart with the Islanders 
of the Pacific. The custom of secluding a girl 
when she becomes of age, of young girls marrying 
old men and young men marrying old women, of 
the father having no relation to his own children, 
of the property of the dead reverting to the op- 
posite tribe of the deceased, of pregnant women 
observing taboos, of tattooing the body, of dancing 
and feasting, of pampering children, of shaman- 
ism and witchcraft, of the brother of a deceased 
brother taking his widow to wife, of gifts being 
passed to the parents of the bride, of weaving 
l3askets, of marrying at an early age, of looking 
upon twins as an evil omen, of weaning children 
very late, and practically all the other customs 
of the Thlingets are followed by the inhabitants 
of the islands of the Pacific. 

Then the two peoples are alike in personal ap- 
pearance, temperament and traits. Both possess 
the happy and unhappy qualities of childhood, the 



34 ORIGIN OF THE ALASKANS 

affection, credulity, love of pleasure; also ungov- 
ernable passions, instinctive aversions, jealousy, 
cunning and a love of revenge. 

We believe that both tlie Islanders and the 
Alaskans are of Mongolian origin, chiefly Jap- 
anese, and that the Alaskans were the first scion 
from this stock, and the Islanders, for the most 
part at least, indirectly of the same through the 
Alaskans. It is far more probable that the 
islands were first peopled from the mainland, 
rather than the mainland from the islands. 

After studying the problem for years we be- 
lieve the racial flow was along the Asiatic coast 
to Kamchatka, thence to Alaska, and from Alaska 
to the islands of the Pacific. This would account 
for the similarity of the many customs observed 
by the two peoples. 

It may be asked, if the Alaskans have sprung 
from so happy a stock as the Japanese, why are 
they so much inferior to them? We reply, be- 
cause generations, possibly centuries, of isolation 
have made them so. It is a well-known fact that 
degeneracy generally follows such a state. 

Until a more plausible theory of the origin of 
our Alaskans is advanced, supported by stronger 
arguments than the foregoing, we shall continue 
to believe that our neighbour, Japan, is responsi- 
ble for the existence of this aboriginal people. 



IV 

THE THLINGET LANGUAGE 

AN interesting and instructive volume might 
^be written on the language of the Thlin- 
gets, but only a chapter can here be given 
to it. 

They have no written language. Their totemic 
emblems are the nearest approach to it. 

Their oral language is handed down from gen- 
eration to generation. It is constantly undergo- 
ing change, and already many terms once com- 
monly used have become obsolete. Many of the 
natives now living have lost much of the pure 
Thlinget, and are unacquainted with many words 
which their ancestors employed. Then, again, 
new words are being coined to meet the growing 
demands superinduced by their progress in civi- 
T lization. 

It is especially interesting to note Thlinget 
word-building relative to objects introduced to 
them by white people. '' Cream of Wheat " is 
called sdh-d-ha goo because it resembles oolikan 
spawn. Gun-teenyak is the word for steamboat, 
which analyzed is gun{fiXQ)-teGn{wii\i)-ydk (ca- 
noe), hence steamboat is canoe-with-fire. On-td- 
ydh-oo', the word for small boats other than ca- 
noes, little-canoe-on-ship — that is, lifeboat. These 
lifeboats were the first small boats other than 
their canoes that the natives ever saw, so on-tci- 
ydk-oo is the word used to differentiate all small 

35 



36 THE THLINGET LANGUAGE 

boats from canoes. Ice cream is called d-uk-d- 
liug'wd (frozen grease) ; Epsom Salts, kd-wdn- 
nouh' , frost medicine, because it resembles frost; 
gooltJi'ddn, excitement, is derived from goolth 
(whirlpool). Lima beans are known as wutze- 
watze, because they resemble the fat seen in the 
moose. " Quaker Oats " resembles the seed of 
the native wild celery {yd-nd-dte) and for this 
reason is called yd-nd-dte' shuk-d-liee'ny. 

Many white people, from some peculiarity, are 
nicknamed by them and these names become part 
of their vocabulary. One man is known as Thloo'- 
tuk-dn (red-inside-of-nose) ; another, Ki-tik- 
kleak' (one arm). 

The language now abounds with corruptions 
through the effort of the natives to adopt or in- 
corporate words from the English and Russian 
into their own tongue. Their word don'nd is a 
mispronunciation of dollar, Kin-ditch' for King 
George, and Kin-ditch-wdn (King George's peo- 
ple) for Canadians. Kin-ditch-wdn-got'ty is the 
name of an island in the Chilkat river, so called 
because some Canadians once camped there. 
Gow'e is a Thlinget corruption for the English 
coffee, and goo-ndsh'es for molasses. We might 
multiply examples almost indefinitely, but those 
cited will suffice for our purpose. 

Some of their borrowed words which they have 
incorporated they pronounce correctly. Among 
these are sugar and butter in English, and slid- 
deen'gd (pig) and ivos (cow) in Russian. 

An invention knowm as the Chinook, a jargon, 
has also had a share in corrupting the pure 
Thlinget. Terms from this linguistic hybrid are 
frequently mixed with the Thlinget. Such terms 
as Siwash (Indian), skookum (strong), tillicum 



PROPER NAMES 37 

(people), tenas (little) and many others are pure 
Cliinook words. 

All Thlinget proper names have a meaning; 
Shd-ivdt-klen (female) means big woman; KCi-uk- 
isJi (male) means father-of-the-morning; Shd- 
goon-e-isJi (male) father-of-tools. All names ap- 
plied to persons are in a sense inherited and 
handed down from generation to generation. 
While the Thlingets have no surnames, yet most 
of them have more than one name. Some have 
three or four. They need no surnames for iden- 
tification, as the family crest serves this purpose. 
Their names refer to this crest or totem, and as 
soon as one hears the name of another he knows 
exactly where to place him. 

The name of a man is changed when he be- 
comes a father and he is called after his child 
with the word ish (father) appended. If, for in- 
stance, the child's name is Hult-zoo', the father 
is called Hiilt-zoo-ish' (the-father-of -Hult-zoo'). 

Certain proper names belong to certain tribes, 
and only members of the tribe to which the names 
belong can assume them. By this system each 
name bears on the totem of the family, and the 
individual is classified as soon as his name is 
spoken. If he is among strangers, his name will 
show who are his tribal relations. This secures 
him friendship and hospitality. 

Many of the natives now have full English and 
Russian names in addition to their Thlinget 
names. The writer himself has given English 
names to more than seven hundred of them. 

The paucity of the Thlinget language is not so 
great as many white people are prone to think. 
One thing is sure, the native is never at a loss 
to express himself in his own tongue. This, how- 



38 THE THLINGET LANGUAGE 

ever, may not be due so mucli to a lengthy vo- 
cabulary as to the gift of speech; the English is 
abundantly sufficient for expression, yet not a few 
English-speaking people find it difficult to express 
themselves. 

Many Thlingets are eloquent in speech. Im- 
agery is very largely used by them. A native 
youth in a speech likened the Presbyterian Train- 
ing School to the Sitka harbour which is sheltered 
from the ocean waves by numerous islands — so 
the teachers stand round and about the pupils to 
protect them from the evils of the world. 

The Thlinget language does lack, however, 
words to express abstract, spiritual and philo- 
sophical ideas. It contains no profane words nor 
any oaths. If the native wishes to swear, he must 
go outside of his own language to do it. But it 
abounds with vulgar and sarcastic terms, and 
these are freely employed when one wants to 
tongue-lash another. 

What it lacks in abstract terms it makes up in 
the concrete. For example, where we make the 
one word '' nephew " apply either to a sister's 
or a brother's son, the Thlingets employ different 
words. Doo-Jiun4id-yeet' (nephew) is the older 
brother's son; doo-keek-yeet' , the younger broth- 
er's son, and doo-Juilth'k', the sister's son. 

The same peculiarity obtains when they are 
speaking of brothers and sisters. The word dif- 
fers according to whether one is speaking of an 
older or younger brother or sister, or whether 
a woman or a man is speaking. A-lioon is the 
word used for brother when a younger brother is 
speaking of an older one; d-keek' when a sister 
is speaking of her brother; d-sliut'k' when a 
younger sister is speaking of an older sister; 



PECULIARITIES OF LANGUAGE 39 

d-keek' when an older sister is speaking of a 
younger sister, and d-klok' when a man is speak- 
ing of his sister. 

Sunny (uncle) is the word employed when 
speaking of one's father's brother, and kok (un- 
cle) when speaking of a mother's brother. Ot 
(aunt) is used when speaking of a father's sister, 
and kloiik (aunt) when speaking of a mother's 
sister. 

Different terms are used for the same object 
according as to whether it is near or far off when 
you are speaking of it. Some things have three 
or four names. 

But while the Thlinget language has more of a 
vocabulary than most people think, yet it is ex- 
tremely deficient for the needs of this age. The 
paucity of the language may be better understood 
by giving an illustration. The best translation 
that can be made of our familiar doxology, and 
the one that is used in worship, is the following : 

'^ De-ke On-kow kuni-shag , 
Chuth-la-cut ha-jeg ya-a-ya-oo, 
Uch chuth-la-cut ye-wanch kuni-shag, 
Kuni-shag ha-ish tlahl-oohl-took." 

This is the literal English translation: 

Above chief praise, 

All of us gifts. 

For all you praise. 

Praise our Father very pure. 

Scarcely a sentence is spoken in which a pe- 
culiar and distressing guttural does not appear. 
This alone makes it very difficult for a white man 



40 THE THLINGET LANGUAGE 

to acquire. We have no alphabetical character to 
correspond with this guttural, and with some of 
us our vocal organs seem utterly incapable of pro- 
ducing it. 

Although the Thlingets have no written lan- 
guage yet, the grammatical construction and sen- 
tence structure of their language are in form very 
much like the Latin. The verbs are similarly con- 
jugated, the nouns similarly declined. There are 
but few of the former in the language, verb 
phrases being largely used instead, and these are 
conjugated as verbs. The personal pronoun is ex- 
pressed wholly or in part, or implied, in every 
verb or verb phrase. 

There is no verb "to be " in the language. 
Yd-yd-tee (it abides) comes the nearest to it. 
There are no separate auxiliaries such as will, 
may, must, etc., as we find in English. 

The verbs have Voice, Mood, Tense, Person and 
Number. The nouns and pronouns are declined 
in seven cases. The plural of some nouns is an 
entirely different word from the singular, cor- 
responding in this respect with some of our Eng- 
lish plurals. For instance yucl-d-givutz'koo (boy) 
and kd-sanee (boys) ; shot-gwutzkoo (girl) and 
shok-sd'nee (girls). 

As to gender, the word used determines whether 
the object is male, female or neuter. The fem- 
inine gender of animals is determined by the syl- 
lable shOch; goo-wd-kon (der) and shech-goo- 
wd-kon (doe). Shech'-ji being the generic term 
for all female animals. 

Like the Latin, the Thlinget language has no 
article, and, practically speaking, no preposition. 
Kd (and) is its main and almost its only con- 
junction. 



I 



DESIRABILITY OF LEARNING ENGLISH 41 

In the structure of the sentence the usual order 
is (1) object, (2) subject, and (3) verb. 

The Thliuget language is doomed to speedy ex- 
tinction, the sooner the better, for the natives. 
They have no access to literature so long as they 
are shut up to their own language, and so they 
miss its elevating influences. In the second place, 
their language is useless as a means of communi- 
cation with white people who are now populating 
their country and with whom they must now cope. 
It is certain that the w^hite people will not learn 
Thlinget. If, therefore, the natives would do busi- 
ness with the white people, or be acquainted with 
the white man's laws by which they must be gov- 
erned, they must learn English. In the third 
place, their language is altogether inadequate for 
their needs as their intellectual horizon widens. 
In the fourth place, the adoption of English means 
that they mil far more rapidly get away from 
their old, degrading customs. Nothing retards 
the progress of a people so much as to be held 
to a language fit only for barbarians. 

The sooner, therefore, that the natives drop 
their stunted and dwarfed language for the liberal 
English, the better. No encouragement to hold 
on to their language should be given by mis- 
sionaries and teachers learning it with the 
view of addressing them in it. The best way 
of elevating them is to make them climb up 
to us. 

While it was necessary for missionaries, 
teachers and traders to learn something of their 
language when they first went among them, it is 
not required now. Many, especially among the 
young people, have already a good command of 
English and some use English only. The day is 



42 THE THLINGET LANGUAGE 

not far distant wlien native audiences can be ad- 
dressed directly in English Avitliout the medium 
of an interpreter. Then their complete civiliza- 
tion and progress to qualification for citizenship 
will be rapid. 

Mr. William Duncan, who has so nobly, unself- 
ishly and heroically laboured for more than fifty 
years with the Tsimpsheans of Alaska, declares 
his people are not yet qualified for citizenship. 
May it not be that holding on to their own tongue 
is largely responsible for this? Their language is 
useless outside of their own little community; 
why perpetuate it when they might have one that 
is universally used and the use of which would 
increase their knowledge a hundredfold and 
qualify them to take their places as citizens in the 
body politic? 

It would be folly to attempt to reduce the 
Thlinget to writing and ask the natives to learn 
it. The time had better be spent in acquiring mas- 
tery of the English. 

Were the Thlingets a great and flourishing na- 
tion like the Japanese or Chinese, or even multi- 
tudinous like the Africans, giving promise of in- 
definite perpetuation like these and similar people, 
then it would no doubt be wise to give them a 
literature in their own tongue as well as in a for- 
eign one; for in these multitudinous races many 
will never know any other than their own lan- 
guage and the race is itself, relatively speaking, 
perpetual. But with the little tribes of Alaska it 
is very different. There is but a mere handful of 
any one of them, the white races are rapidly 
crowding them to the wall and nothing can stop it, 
there is little in their languages to merit per- 
petuation, and the sooner they acquire the pre- 



THE CHINOOK JARGON 43 

vailing language of the land the better chance they 
will have for existence and growth. 

While in some localities, especially in the ex- 
treme southeastern part of the archipelago, the 
Chinook jargon is used to some extent, in others 
it is scarcely spoken at all. It was invented as a 
means by which traders might communicate with 
the natives of different tongues scattered along 
the coast from Oregon to Yakutat, Alaska. 

Very few of the natives living north of Wran- 
gell have any acquaintance with it, and those who 
have, seldom use it. It has little to recommend 
it to the serious consideration of any one, other 
than a curiosity. Its vocabulary is very limited, 
it has no grammatical construction, and is not a 
language, but an invention pure and simple. This 
last fact is the only thing that makes it of any 
interest. 



V 
THE FAMILY 

THE husband and wife always belong to dif- 
ferent tribes. According to a long-estab- 
lished custom, a Thlinget cannot marry one 
of his own totem, though no blood relation. 

The children belong to the totem of their 
mother, and, of course, receive their caste from 
her. The father has no authority over his own 
children. The maternal uncle of the children has 
far more to say about them than the father. The 
aunts on the maternal side have, also, all author- 
ity over their nephews and nieces. They are re- 
garded as mothers and are so called by their 
nephews and nieces. When the mother dies the 
father must relinquish his children to their ma- 
ternal uncles and aunts. If the father were to 
inflict any injury on his child, his tribe would have 
to pay damages to his wife's tribe. 

The father loves his children none the less be- 
cause of this custom. He supports them to the 
best of his ability so long as they are under his 
care. When the mother dies and the children are 
taken by her relatives they assume their support. 
No child is ever cast out among the Thlingets. 
If a child loses both parents, some relation on 
the maternal side claims it and cares for it. Fre- 
quently disputes arise about who should have the 
orphan child, so desirous are relatives of taking 
their deceased relatives' children. 

44 



TREATMENT OF NEPHEWS AND NIECES 45 

The uncles and aunts are usually as good to 
their nephews and nieces as are their own par- 
ents — often better. Uncles are especially indul- 
gent toward their nephews. In fact the more 
liberties they take the better the uncles like it. No 
uncle would think of imposing restrictions on his 
nephew in his own home, and the nephews walk 
in and out of the homes of their uncles as if they 
were real sons. 

Children are very much desired by Thlinget 
parents. A barren wife is not enviable. Parents 
who are so unfortunate as to have no children 
sometimes adopt them. Such is their fondness 
for children that some natives have applied to 
foundling homes in Washington for white babies. 
The writer was asked by two native women to 
write to a foundling home in Seattle for children 
for them. Both have been married a number of 
years, but have no family. 

Boys are, on the whole, more desirable than 
girls, because a man is esteemed of more worth 
than a woman. 

Children born out of wedlock, especially illegiti- 
mate half-breeds, are more or less despised. In 
earlier times they were put to death immediately 
after birth. " Secret " children, that is, children 
whose fathers cannot be determined and who have, 
therefore, no visible fathers, are still in some in- 
stances destroyed as soon as born. Strangulation 
is the usual method of disposing of them. In for- 
mer years they were taken to the woods, their 
mouths stuffed with moss or grass, and then they 
were thrown into a hole to die. This is all done 
as secretly as possible and to the natives it is no 
crime. They believe that if it is not done very 
bad luck will follow the family, or clan. It is a 



46 THE FAMILY 

difficult matter to detect this crime, as they can 
go off to some unfrequented place, camp there for 
awhile, dispose of the new-born undesirable and 
when they return to town have a plausible state- 
ment to cover up the crime. 

Until within recent years a regular doctor was 
never employed by the natives at childbirth and 
even now they are seldom called for such a pur- 
pose. The majority of Thlinget women suffer 
very little, and some not at all, when their children 
are born. They have been known to give birth 
while sleeping. In former years the universal 
practice was for the mother to lie outside of the 
house in a booth, or in the bushes. A hole was 
made in the ground and lined with leaves or moss 
and the new-born babe was deposited in it. 

In an incredibly short time after giving birth 
to a child, the mother is up and about. They are 
often sitting up and sewing or doing bead or 
basket work in a few hours. " Delivery," writes 
Dall, " takes place in a few minutes, the mother 
kneeling; no pain is experienced, and she is about 
again and at her work in half an hour." 

As soon as the Thlinget babe is born it is put 
into swaddliug clothes and placed in a strait- 
jacket like an Indian pappoose. It is practically 
kept in this for a year or more. Hammocks are 
made by doubling a blanket and running a rope 
through each fold. This is hung across one corner 
of the room and used as the cradle for the infant. 
A string is attached to one side of the hammock 
so that the mother, while at her sewing or basket- 
weaving, may pull it and keep the hammock in 
motion to rock the babe to sleep. Infants are 
seldom weaned under three years of age. 

Children are so beloved by their parents that 



PARENTAL INDULGENCE OF CHILDREN 47 

they are indulged to their detriment. They are 
rarely punished. When they are it is because the 
parent has been grievously aggravated by them, 
and then punishment is brutally administered. 
The wishes of children are usually gratified to 
the extent of the parental ability. They are usu- 
ally allowed to have their own way, and little or 
no parental restraint is thrown about them. This 
is due not so much to laxness as to misdirected 
parental love. It is considered a mark of their 
love to let their children have what they demand 
and do as they please. 

Polyandry is rarely practised. In the many 
years of our residence among them, but two cases 
were reported to us, and those were not proven. 

The domestic life of the average Thlinget fam- 
ily is of a low character. Most of the houses have 
but one room and no second story. In this one 
room several families frequently live at the same 
time, each family having its own personal effects, 
such as bedding, cooking utensils, boxes of food, 
etc. The room is usually bare and scant of fur- 
niture, a box-stove being the most prominent piece. 
In some may be found bedsteads, either crudely 
made by the native himself or purchased, but the 
floor is oftener used for sleeping purposes. The 
bedstead often holds boxes, trunks and other 
articles. 

Few homes have chairs, and those that have are 
not supplied with enough to go round. It is popu- 
lar with the women to squat on the floor. While 
some households are furnished with a common 
table (often home-made), many families do not 
deem this an indispensable article of housekeep- 
ing. The meal is more frequently spread on the 
floor near the stove than on the table. No table- 



48 THE FAMILY 

clotli is used. Even where a home may have one 
or more tables, there may be more families than 
tables, and so some must take the floor. The gen- 
eral use of the table is to hold accumulated dirty 
dishes. There is no regular hour for eating, and 
any one is at liberty to cook at any moment of the 
day or night. Husbands cook for themselves 
nearly as often as their wives cook for them. If 
the husband is hungry and wants his meal, the 
wife gets it or not, as she is disposed. 

The greatest disorder prevails in the average 
home. We could hardly expect anything else 
where several families live in one room, and each 
wait for the others to clean up. Then, too, fami- 
lies are going and coming all the time, and we 
hear them complain that they cannot keep a home 
very clean for these reasons. The beds are mussy 
and seldom made up. During the day they are 
lounged on and slept in without the one using 
them taking oif any clothes. The Thlinget sleeps 
whenever he is inclined so to do. We have found 
them in bed at all hours of the day, and often seen 
them sleeping with their clothes on as they came 
off the street. 

The dishes and skillets are usually dirty. Each 
family cooks and eats at a different time from the 
others in the house, and if all are using dishes and 
skillets in common, those who use them last leave 
them dirty for the next set to clean — if they wish 
them cleaned. Often they use them as they find 
them, dirt and all. 

The popular method of cooking is boiling, al- 
though broiling and roasting are also used. In 
former years, before they became acquainted with 
the iron pot, they did their boiling in baskets 
woven of the spruce fibre, and so closely as to be 



ROVING 49 

water-tiglit. Stones were heated and dropped 
into the contents of the basket and in this way- 
boiling was done. Few natives know anything of 
pastry cooking. 

Any member of the household eats and sleeps 
and gets up when he feels like it. No restrictions 
are imposed. They run in and out, engage in any 
employment they please, all without let or hin- 
drance. Some are packing up to move out while 
others are moving in to stay. 

Many of them own no home personally, but 
move about from house to house among the tribe. 
They are never at a loss to find some place in 
which to stay, and that without cost. If the 
owner is not at home any of his tribe may go in 
and make themselves at home, and stay as long 
as they please. 

When they move they take all of their personal 
effects with them, including the dogs. 

Dogs are highly prized for hunting. Some men 
own four or five. They are of a wolfish nature 
and extremely mean. They are not regarded as 
pets and are seldom treated as such. They are 
left to get their own food. The natives have a 
superstition about killing a dog. If some one else 
kills him the owner appraises the dog very highly 
and clamours for pay. He suddenly becomes a 
valuable creature, though before he was killed he 
was utterly worthless. 

Clothes are washed in several ways. A common 
method is to take them to a near-by stream, or 
the bay, and wash them there by rubbing the gar- 
ments between the hands or on a washboard. 
Tubs are used in the house, but are invariably 
set on the floor, the woman squatting beside them 
while she rubs the articles on a washboard or 



60 THE FAMILY 

between her hands. Blankets are commonly 
washed by throwing them in the bay and treading 
on them. We have seen the women treading 
blankets when the weather was so cold that their 
feet and legs would be as red as beets. 

Sewing is one of the domestic arts of the 
Thlingets. Not only do the women make gar- 
ments and patch clothes, but they use the needle 
in making moccasins, mittens and various kinds 
of beadwork. Some of them handle the needle 
with much skill and do very fine work. In this 
age both hand and pedal sewing-machines are com- 
monly used by them. 

In the home life many things that we would 
regard as immodest cause no comment among 
the natives. A mother has no hesitancy in suck- 
ling her child in public, or men in lounging around 
half-clothed, or children in going practically nude. 

Gossiping is one of the besetting sins of the 
women. You can hardly go into a home without 
encountering a group of gossips, and quarrels fre- 
quently result from rumours thus set in motion. 

Family quarrels are all too frequent. Jealousy 
prompts some, while indiscreet acts and ungov- 
ernable tempers are at the bottom of others. The 
husband chastises his wife, sometimes beating her 
unmercifully. The wife does not always tamely 
submit to this, but defends herself to the best of 
her ability. Often she is more than a match for 
her husband in brute strength and in the science 
of handling her fists. Biting is a common mode 
of inflicting injury upon one another when quar- 
relling. 

The status of a Thlinget wife is not that of a 
slave to her master. She is as independent as he, 
and she asserts her independence, too. In truth, 



STATUS OF WIFE 51 

the average husband stands more in fear of his 
wife than she does of him. The husband's earn- 
ings are wholly turned over to his wife. She is, 
therefore, the banker of the household. If he de- 
sires to make a purchase he must appeal to her 
and get her consent. Sometimes she declines to 
give him what he asks for, or disapproves of him 
making the contemplated purchase. If spirited 
and he realizes that he can master her, he forces 
her to give him the required amount. Ordinarily, 
however, he meekly acquiesces in the wife's de- 
cision. If he wishes to buy any article in the 
store, or from any one, she must first see it for 
herself or be told about it. If she approves, well 
and good. If she objects, that usually settles it 
and the purchase is not made. She is so inde- 
pendent that she makes him wash his own clothes 
and cook his own food. This is always the case 
when she is angry at him for any cause. No per- 
son is more stubborn than the average Thlinget 
woman. You can neither coax nor drive her. She 
would sooner be beaten to a pulp than have to 
admit she was compelled to do a thing. If she 
did she would be sneered at as a slave, and that 
would be worse than death, for slaves are de- 
spised as the very lowest of creatures. 

Some consider it a mark of weakness to yield 
to the demands of their husbands, and for this 
reason they often oppose them. In fact, instead 
of being drudges of their husbands, they do no 
more than they feel disposed to do; and with 
some this is very little. 

In the Thlinget household there is no such thing 
as a voluntary servant, or servant for hire; nor, 
in this day, from compulsion. In the days of 
slavery slaves were compelled to labour for their 



52 THE FAMILY 

masters and for their master's household. But 
the days of slavery have passed. 

The average Thlinget home is run in a loose, 
slipshod fashion, but there are some which are 
nicely kept, in which order prevails, where the 
children are reasonably cared for, and where 
marks of refinement are not wanting. In com- 
munities where the white population is considera- 
ble, native families live interspersed among them. 
These families, as a rule, live along the advanced 
lines of civilization and manage their homes as 
creditably as the ordinary white families manage 
theirs. 

In taking native family life into account, it 
should be remembered from what the people have 
emerged, the many drawbacks with which they 
have to contend, the little means and few facilities 
they have at their disposal, and their lack of edu- 
cation. It is a question if the average white 
woman placed in the same environment and under 
the same handicaps would do any better than the 
average Thlinget w^oman does in the way of keep- 
ing a neat and orderly home. The home lacks 
every facility for good housekeeping, has but the 
one room, without closets or racks for garments, 
is subject to constant inroads of entire families, 
and the housekeeper labours under conditions that 
afford only a bare subsistence. All things con- 
sidered, the Thlingets have made splendid prog- 
ress. History shows that they have climbed away 
from savagery much more rapidly than our savage 
forefathers did, and much more rapidly than have 
many other races. 



VI 

THE COMMUNITY 

EACH community of natives is independent of 
every other. There is no federation. The 
only bond of unity is the tribal, or totemic, 
bond. 

As a rule, the communities are many miles 
apart. Safe and cozy harbours, with nice beaches, 
are chosen for town-sites. '' The native hamlets 
are always built near the shore, accessibility to 
the water being the first consideration, because 
from that source comes nine-tenths of their sub- 
sistence." * 

The villages are constructed to conform to the 
contour of the shore. There is no such thing as 
laying out a town-site. They have no knowledge 
of surveying. The villages can hardly be said to 
have any streets, as every native is desirous of 
having his home directly on the water-front. But 
in most instances the beaches are short, between 
precipitous shore lines, so that some must build 
back from the shore. 

By building next to the beach no clearing the 
ground is necessary. The Thlinget avoids all ex- 
ertion possible; he will not cut down trees and dig 
out stumps for a clearing unless it is absolutely 
required. He usually claims no more ground than 
his house occupies, except the frontage. He has 
no homestead, nor ranch, nor estate. He can ac- 

* " Alaska," Ballou, page 194. 

53 



54 THE COMMUNITY 

quire no title to anything: land, homestead, min- 
eral claim or any other property. It is hard to 
define the native's status. He is declared not a 
citizen of any country. Since he supports himself 
he is not a ward of any country. And yet the 
United States claims to have jurisdiction over him. 
It sues him and imprisons him, but it will not let 
him vote, have any voice in making the laws by 
which he is governed, or acquire title to property. 
In rights, he is treated as a foreigner, but in pun- 
ishment as a citizen. If he has a house and land 
he cannot sell them and give title. Because of 
this anomalous position in which he finds him- 
self, he has no incentive to acquire land and im- 
prove it, or to prospect for minerals. In but few 
instances has he profited from gold discoveries. 
Consequently all ambition in this direction is 
stifled. He plants his little home by the sea, 
or on the river bank, and therewith rests con- 
tent. 

•Many of the houses are set at every conceivable 
angle. Had the houses in some villages been 
dumped out of the clouds they could scarcely have 
lodged in a more disorderly arrangement. 

A monotonous appearance characterizes nearly 
every village. But still the people are improving 
in their building and give promise of approaching, 
at least, the ordinary home and architecture of the 
white man in the near future. 

Years ago, while massive communal houses con- 
stituted some villages, others were composed of 
mere shacks and huts. The roofs were made of 
slabs and cedar bark carelessly tlirown over pole 
rafters. No house had a chimney or a window. 
A large aperture in the centre of the roof served 
for both. They were put up in the most slipshod 



ADVANTAGES AND IMPROVEMENTS 55 

fashion, mth the least labour possible, and had 
the appearance of being ready to tumble down. 

In justice to the natives, be it said that they 
were not to blame for the squalid, miserable vil- 
lages of years ago. In the first place, there are 
few places in southeastern Alaska suitable for a 
to^\Ti-site, because the shores are so mountainous. 
In those days there were no sawmills, and every 
stick put into a house had to be hand-hewed. Then 
the few tools they had were very rude and they 
knew almost nothing about carpentry. Hence they 
were greatly handicapped and built under serious 
disadvantages. 

Now they are in possession of good tools, have 
sawmills and hardware stores to draw on for suit- 
able materials to put into buildings. They have 
also some knowledge of carpentry. Some have 
served apprenticeships to the trade and are now 
skilful in handling tools. These advantages have 
brought great changes in their building. The 
rude, dilapidated, windowless huts and hovels 
have been replaced with frame houses having win- 
dows and chimneys and shingled roofs. And not 
only have their homes been improved in outward 
appearance, but the interiors are incomparably 
better. Formerly they were never ceiled. The 
mere rough boards stared one in the face, with 
cracks wide enough to thrust the finger through 
them. But now their houses are ceiled and many 
of them nicely papered and painted. The new vil- 
lages that have sprung up consist of up-to-date 
houses. There are several old, abandoned villages 
with ancient communal houses and totem poles. 
These primitive towns present a weird appear- 
ance, and, if they could talk, would tell some 
thrilling tales. 



66 THE COIMMUNITY 

Changed conditions and the example of the 
white people of the States have, no doubt, led to 
these improvements. Under the Russian regime 
the natives saw no modern style buildings. 

In addition to the main villages, there are sum- 
mer camps for fishing and berry picking, and 
winter lodges for trapping and hunting. The ter- 
ritory of each community, that is, the fishing and 
hunting territory, is well known to all. There is 
no encroaching on one another's grounds, as all 
are at liberty to roam where they will. 

In every community there are two or more dif- 
ferent tribes. A chief is at the head of each, and 
nothing of importance is undertaken without first 
consulting him. Generally his word is law with 
his people. The individual counts for iittle unless 
of high rank, or caste. The tribe is the ruling 
power in every community, and usually does as 
the chief says. All grievances are redressed and 
reprisals made by the tribe. When an individual 
is wronged the tribe at once takes up his cause; 
when shamed or insulted, the tribe at once re- 
sents it; when in need of assistance, the tribe is 
ever ready to help him. Marriages, house build- 
ing, burials, feasts, potlatches, dances, the erec- 
tion of totem poles, and many other things are 
matters for tribal consideration. 

They have no municipal government nor public 
utilities. There are no taxes, as there are no 
public expenses or offices. The only public spirit 
expressed is that through the tribe to its own 
members. 

As a community, they will suffer the greatest 
inconvenience rather tlian lift a hand for the 
public good. No one would think of removing the 
carcass of a dead dog, or a salmon, from their 



PUBLIC UTILITIES 57 

midst, of digging a well, or performing other 
service for the public weal. 

Not until recently have they shown disposition 
to establish any public utilities whatever. Some 
villages now have plank sidewalks and public 
halls, and in one or two places they run a few 
electric street lamps. In time the spirit may 
grow. 

In one community, that of Kluckwan, they have 
installed a public water system, leading the water 
from the mountain to the village through pipes. 
The missionary of that place was the prime 
mover in the enterprise. The natives rallied to 
the project, and now they have good water with 
strong pressure. 

The sanitary conditions of nearly every native 
community are deplorable. Were it not that the 
beneficent tides flush the beaches twice every 
twenty-four hours nothing could have saved them 
from extinction years ago by some malignant epi- 
demic produced by their own filth and careless- 
ness. 

In some localities, the more progressive and 
enlightened natives live apart from the unsavoury 
village. A number of native homes are knowTi to 
us that are as tidy and inviting as the ordinary 
white man's home. At Sitka they have a cottage 
settlement in connection with the Presbyterian 
mission, which is a mile away from the common 
native village. The cottages in this settlement 
are occupied and owned by those who were once 
pupils of the mission, but are now married and 
have families. The homes are neatly furnished 
and kept, and life is on a much higher plane than 
in the ordinary native village. 

The social life of the average native community 



58 THE COMMUNITY 

is of a very low tone. They have very little to 
break the monotony of life. Aside from feasting 
and dancing they have practically no amusements. 
Public quarrels are common and a source of enter- 
tainment to the staring spectators, as they rarely 
fail to draw an audience. All domestic troubles 
are fully aired and made subjects of gossip. Noth- 
ing is hidden, hence we see the entire dark side 
of the native as well as his good side. They are 
not as clever in this respect as the white people 
are. There are no skeletons tucked away in na- 
tive families, for the acts of one are familiar to 
all the others. Privacy is hardly known among 
them. It cannot be maintained very well under 
their system of living, mth families bunched to- 
gether. 

The Thlinget's bump of curiosity is well devel- 
oped, and anything out of the ordinary, as an 
accident, a birth, a death or a quarrel, never fails 
to draw a crowd. 

The women gossip unrestrainedly about every 
one who comes to mind, and often mix their gossip 
with many grains of falsehood. Some of them 
have great ingenuity as fabricators, telling things 
for fact that are a mere tissue of lies. 

They walk in and out of one another's homes 
without the formality of knocking on the door. 
A woman may be in the very act of changing her 
garments when Mr. Quakish steps in unan- 
nounced to visit her husband. This does not em- 
barrass her in the least. She proceeds as if no 
one had called. They walk out as unceremoni- 
ously as they walk in. Having sat long enough 
they arise and walk out without saying a word 
or taking notice of any one. In turn, the guest is 
as little noticed. If the occupants of the house 



STRATA OF SOCIETY 59 

are busy with sewing, making baskets, carving, 
etc., they never susi^end work for a visitor. The 
men are very taciturn when visiting, often com- 
ing in and sitting for awhile without saying a 
word and then passing out. 

Life in the village is very different in the sum- 
mer from what it is in the winter. In the summer 
very few remain, some villages being absolutely 
deserted. The people are mostly off to their 
summer camps and places of occupation, hence 
it is very quiet in town. In the fall they return 
for the winter, and festivities begin. "Winter is 
thi Thlinget's play time. Summer is the time for 
work. 

Rank and caste play an important part in every 
Thlinget community. While caste does not bear 
as vigorously on the Alaskans as it does on the 
Hindoos of India, yet it is very pronounced and 
severely felt. 

There are four strata of Thlinget society, the 
high, medium, low and the slaves. There are 
none of the last now, except a few " left-overs." 
They all mingle in the community, the low and 
the high visiting and talking with one another. 
But in marriage, at feasts, in public councils, and 
in the settlement of wrongs and injuries, class 
distinctions are always asserted. The high-caste 
family strenuously opposes the marriage of one 
of its number to one of a lower class. 

The sister of a certain chief known to us mar- 
ried one of a lower caste. The chief not only 
disowned her, but threatened to kill her for the 
disgrace. In earlier times a brother had the right 
to kill a sister who disgraced the family in any 
way. 

A low-caste man paid the dowry for a high- 



60 THE COMMUNITY 

caste woman. Her tribe quickly had it returned, 
as they would not countenance such a marriage. 

At feasts they are given positions and goods 
according to rank and caste. In public councils it 
would be considered a shame for those of high- 
caste connections to listen to talk from those of 
a lower class. I once employed as church inter- 
preter a native who had been a slave. The people 
of the higher classes refused to take instruction 
through such a medium. When I found out the 
reason of their coldness I changed interpreters, 
and the work took on new life from that moment. 

The lines of caste are also marked by the atti- 
tude the lower take toward the higher classes. 
The low-caste man must be very careful what he 
says to the high-caste fellow. The man of high- 
caste totem can say what he pleases to a member 
of his own phratry who is of a lower caste, and 
the latter must meekly take it. 

Caste is revealed in property affairs. The low 
caste are not allowed to erect houses and totems, 
or to build canoes equal to those of a higher class. 
Certain names are not allowed to be used by in- 
ferior classes. The totem governs all naming of 
the natives. 

Tradition says that long ago the natives were 
savages and went naked. After awhile they made 
clothing of skins, and used sinews of animals for 
threads. The babies that were well cared for 
and wrapped in furs were considered superior to 
those that were wrapped in moss and neglected. 
The high-caste, or well-raised baby, had eight 
feasts given in its honour, and was tlien given an 
honourable name. Thus caste was establislied. 

Children of high-caste parentage are high caste 
by inheritance. The child of i^arents who are high 



THE CHIEF 61 

on one side and low on the other loses caste. Men 
of wealth, that is, those possessing many blankets, 
trunks, and dancing paraphernalia snch as masks, 
hats, dancing robes, etc., are very highly es- 
teemed. So are mighty hunters. 

As caste serves to distinguish classes, rank does 
the same for individuals. The Ikt (shaman) was 
at one time the most liighly revered person among 
them. He was esteemed as one having super- 
natural powers, and was honoured above all 
others not only in life but in death. 

Next to the shaman in station is the chief {on- 
how'wd). The office is hereditary or elective. 
When the chief dies the office does not entail on 
his son, as the crown does in European kingdoms, 
but on his brother or his nephew, the son of his 
sister — the son of the oldest if he has more than 
one. This is to keep the chieftainship within the 
correct tribal bounds. The man's son is never 
a member of his tribe, but always of the mother's. 
A man's sister's son is by force of custom always 
a member of his clan or tribe. His brother's son 
would not be. For tliis reason the son of the 
chief's sister is recognized as the true heir to the 
office of chief. 

The chief is not only respected by all classes in 
his community, but throughout the entire country, 
no one daring to give him umbrage except one of 
his own class or rank. He is generally obeyed and 
supported by the members of his tribe. He con- 
siders it beneath his dignity to carry the slightest 
parcel. His game is procured and his domestic 
fires are kept up for him. In former years, when 
slavery was in vogue, his slaves did his bidding. 
While his authority is not so great now as it was, 
yet he has no trouble to fiind those who are obedi- 



62 THE COMMUNITY 

ent to his orders. He is respected at all feasts 
and potlatclies, his being the seat of honour and 
the largest share in the distribution of goods. 
None of a lower rank is allowed to build so large 
a house as his, or give a greater potlateh. When 
one of his own tribe wishes to build, he dictates 
the dimensions of the house. 

Some tribes have more than one chief. When 
this is so they are not of equal rank. The Thlin- 
gets are very supercilious about caste and rank. 
This does not appear on the surface, but is seen 
when we understand their customs. 

In this day, we find in every considerable com- 
munity two classes, the older ones, who are 
tenacious of the old customs and superstitions, 
and the younger ones, or rising generation, who 
are striving to get away from them. These two 
classes often conflict, but the former have mostly 
proven the stronger. Their power, however, is 
constantly waning and it is only a question of a 
few years when they and their customs will have 
gone forever. Some have entirely dropped the 
old customs and are living on the plane of the 
white man. 

As the native communities in Alaska are con- 
stantly undergoing change, what is true of them 
to-day may not be true of them five or ten years 
hence. Many things that were true of them 
twenty years ago are not true of them now. 

It would not be correct nor just to take descrip- 
tions of native communities written more than a 
score of years ago, as applying in all respects to 
the same to-day. Not only the houses, but many 
of the customs and manners which were common 
at that time have passed away. New conditions 
are constantly confronting the natives and they 



MIXTURE OF WHITES AND NATIVES 63 

are more or less conforming to them. War, slav- 
ery, gambling, cremations, polygamy and other 
customs that were rife a generation ago are no 
longer practised. 

■Many commmiities are now populated by white 
people and natives. In some of these towns the 
natives live in a community by themselves, in 
others they are mixed in with the white races. 

The founding of towns by white men has drawn 
colonies of natives from their own villages of 
ancient standing to such communities for employ- 
ment, and this has had a marked effect on native 
life; in some respects for good and in some for 
evil. There are also two prominent factors in 
every village that were not to be found a little 
more than a generation ago — the church and the 
school. 



1 



vn 

PERSONAL APPEARANCE, DRESS AND 
ORNALIENTATION 

WHILE some of the natives take no pride 
in their personal appearance, many of 
them dress in good taste and make a very 
favourable impression. This is especially true 
of the rising generation, and may be taken as a 
mark of their progress. 

The native youth wear good suits with up-to- 
date neckwear, and the young women have dresses 
and cloaks in harmony with the fashion of the 
day. 

At home and in their own villages they are in- 
clined to show an utter disregard of their per- 
sonal appearance. The women are worse than the 
men in this respect. They not only go about their 
homes, but visiting through the village, with di- 
shevelled hair and unlaced shoes. When they ap- 
pear on the streets and in the stores of the white 
man's settlement they are dressed neatly and 
tidily, as a rule. 

The men generally appear well in public, buy- 
ing and wearing, for the most part, the best 
clothes that can be bought. This is especially true 
of those natives who live near any considerable 
white population. 

The native dress is far in advance of what it was 
some years ago. For a long time the blanket was 
the principal, and often the only, article of dress. 

64 



FEMALE HEADGEAR 65 

Even to this day it is tlie only cloak used by some, 
but as an article of dress it is practically a back 
number. 

We note again the evolution in the headgear of 
native women. A few years ago the universal 
headgear was a large kerchief. All kinds of 
colours and combinations of colours were worn. 
*' Groups of natives in bright-coloured blankets, 
with scarlet and yellow handkerchiefs on their 
heads, come into view, watching us curiously 
as we glide over the smooth water."* This 
style of headgear has given way to hats and 
bonnets. 

Many have extra good clothing which they wear 
only on special occasions, such as Fourth of July, 
Christmas and Easter. At these times their 
finery is brought out and worn for the day, then 
taken off and laid away until the special day 
comes round again. 

Some display remarkably good taste and are 
well and becomingly dressed, while others, having 
no sense of the fitness of things, exhibit very bad 
taste. An old woman will appear in dress and 
colours suitable only for a girl, while a girl may 
appear in such as are suitable only for elderly 
persons. Their combinations of colours may do 
all violence to good taste. 

We must remember, however, that good taste is 
the result of cultivation and education. Eefined 
taste is acquired, not inherited. Let a prince grow 
up in a hovel from infancy and he may be coarse 
and vulgar. On the other hand, put the child of 
a beggar into a family of refinement and he is 
likely to become refined in his manners and 
tastes. 

* Ballou, page 194. 



66 PERSONAL APPEARANCE 

So if we see our natives blundering in taste as 
they advance in civilization we sliould not be sur- 
prised nor ridicule them. It would be a marvel 
if they did not. It is really remarkable that so 
many of them appear in public so well dressed 
when we remember that the race has only re- 
cently had opportunities for development along 
these lines. 

Their love of ornamentation is innate, but they 
are not peculiar in tliis. The farther down the 
scale of civilization the more pronounced is this 
characteristic, and it is carried in some instances 
to a ludicrous excess. 

The Thlingets of to-day are not so given to. 
personal ornamentation as they were a few years 
ago. Their taste in this respect, as in others, is] 
constantly improving. Formerly their decora-j 
tions were excessive, ludicrous and grotesque.! 
Eings were worn not only on the fingers but in] 
the ears and the nose. The cartilage in the nosej 
of every Thlinget is punctured for nose rings, bui 
these were worn only in dancing. Earrings arej 
yet commonly worn by females. They were wornl 
by men a few years ago, but now you rarely see] 
one with them. At dances men, women and chil- 
dren wear them. Some men have three punctures] 
for rings in each ear, one in the lobe, one in the] 
middle, and one at the top. There are ear-drops! 
made from shark's teeth that are highly prized.! 
They are triangular in shape, and are worn only] 
at dances. The upper end is usually mounted] 
with gold or silver. 

Every Thlinget child has his ears and nose^ 
pierced for rings the day he is born. Yarn or 
grass is put in the opening to keep it from grow- 
ing together. In earlier years rings were worn in 



I 



JEWELLERY 67 

the ears and nose, not only for ornamentation, 
but to show that the child's parents were not 
poor. If a child had no ring or jewellery of any 
kind he was looked down upon and his people were 
despised. 

In early times earrings were made of copper, 
silver and gold, and in shape were round, ex- 
cepting the shark tooth pendant. To-day the style 
of earring or pendant varies, as they have a wide 
range from which to select. 

The women and girls are very fond of the 
finger-ring (tlaka-keas) and the bracelet (keas). 
Even to this day women may be seen with rings 
on every finger of each hand and several bracelets 
on each wrist. These are made by native silver- 
smiths out of silver and gold coin. The coin is 
melted and pounded into shape and then all kinds 
of totemic designs are carved on them. Some of 
the bracelets are more than an inch wide, and 
made not only of silver but of pure gold. The 
latter range in value from twenty to forty dollars 
each. 

Until recently they preferred silver jewellery to 
gold. Now that they know the value of gold, they 
esteem the gold jewellery more highly. 

Neck chains and stick-pins are commonly worn. 
Formerly necklaces were made of shark's teeth, 
shells, pretty beads and stones. Wliile bead neck- 
laces are still worn, they are being gradually sup- 
planted by gold ones. Both gold and silver pins 
are made in all kinds of designs (chiefly totemic) 
by native silversmiths. Coin is invariably used 
by native artists for all jewellery. 

The ordinary native is as well satisfied with a 
brass pin studded with glass gems as with one 
of pure gold studded with diamonds. The glitter 



68 PERSONAL APPEARANCE 

is the chief consideration. But the better edu- 
cated and more refined will not wear tawdry 
jewellery. 

Their rings and bracelets are worn at all times ; 
they never lay them off for drudgery or dirty 
work, not even when they go about with bare legs 
and feet. 

The lahret is a piece of bone or silver varying 
in size according to the rank of the person wear- 
ing it, that is inserted into the lower lip just 
below the mouth. It is worn as a sign of woman- 
hood. Some assert that its original object was 
to keep women from talking, and that if a woman, 
while scolding, dropped her labret from her lip, 
she was considered beaten and disgraced. We 
have asked not a few natives if this be true, and 
all we have consulted have repudiated the story 
and insisted that it is worn as a badge of 
womanhood. 

Only women of high caste are allowed to wear 
it. Slaves were strictly forbidden its use. As 
the woman who wears the labret grows older, its 
size is increased, so that a woman's age may be 
known from the size and kind of labret she wears. 
In some old women they are an inch long and a 
quarter of an inch wide. They certainly do not 
enhance a woman's looks, but on the contrary 
give her a hideous appearance. 

'' The author," writes Ballou, '' has seen all 
sorts of rude decorations employed by savage 
races, but never one which seemed quite so ridicu- 
lous or so deforming as the plug (labret) which 
many of these women of Alaska wear thrust 
through their lower lips. The plug causes them to 
drool incessantly through the artificial aperture, 
though it is partially stopped by a piece of bone, 



TATTOOING AND FACE PAINTING 69 

ivory, or wood, formed like a large cuff-button, 
with a flat-spread portion inside to keep it in 
position. This practice is commenced in youth, 
the plug being increased in size as the wearer ad- 
vances in age, so that when she becomes aged her 
lower lip is shockingly deformed." 

It is only just to state that this custom, so far 
as the Thlingets are concerned, is a thing of the 
past. 

Tattooing on some portions of the body was 
once a very common form of adornment, but is 
seldom, if at all, resorted to in this age. Only 
high-caste natives were permitted to have their 
bodies tattooed. Professional tattooers were em- 
ployed to do this, and were paid large sums for 
their work. A feast was invariably given in 
honour of the occasion, which exalted the one tat- 
tooed in the public esteem. 

Streaking the face with paint was another way 
they had of adorning the person — a custom no 
longer practised except for dancing. When this 
was done the tribal mark of the individual had 
to be used. For instance, a member of the Whale- 
killer (Keet) tribe wore a mark down the cheek 
and one at right angles to this across the chin. 
This marking represented the jaw of the Keet 
(grampus), and showed to the public that the one 
thus marked was of the Keet tribe. A member 
of the Crow (Yalkth) tribe had a line drawn on 
each side of the nose beginning at the inner corner 
of the eye and angling down the cheek. This 
represented the beak of the crow. 

Even now many of the women paint their faces 
solidly with a kind of lampblack made of soot and 
grease. This is done, however, not for ornamenta- 
tion, as it makes them hideous-looking in the ex- 



70 PERSONAL APPEARANCE 

treme, but for the double purpose of protecting 
their faces from mosquitoes and sunburn. 

In former years their dress was gorgeously 
adorned with beads, buttons and abalone. At one 
time the abalone shell was to the natives what 
diamonds are to the white people. Many carvings 
were inlaid with it. To this day it is highly 
prized, and used for ornamentation. In the days 
of slavery slaves were traded for it. 

Dancing blankets and cloaks are elaborately or- 
namented with buttons and beads, making some 
of them very expensive. Beads are commonly 
used to ornament moccasins, pouches and wall 
pockets that are made from deer and moose hide. 
The beautiful green found on the head of the 
mallard drake is very commonly used for adorn- 
ing articles. The head is skinned and the entire 
patch of green kept intact. 

Our white sisters cannot criticise them for this 
since they are so fond of adorning their own bon- 
nets with the plumage of birds. Native women 
do not use the mallard plumage for adorning hats 
or bonnets, but for the decoration of pouches and 
wall-pockets. 

Most of the natives are slow of movement and 
lacking in grace, but some have fine form and 
carriage. Some of the young women are exceed- 
ingly attractive. 

With them, as with white people, we find the 
attractive and the repulsive, the neat and the tidy, 
the respectable and the vulgar, the clean and the 
filthy. 

The Thlinget's standard of beauty is very dif- 
ferent from that of the white man. Men whom 
we would consider extremely ugly are very much 
admired by Thlinget women. The large mouth, 



STANDARD OF BEAUTY 71 

thick lips and coarse features appeal to the aver- 
age native. It would seem that the more hideous 
the face the more it is admired by the average 
Thlinget. The natural, soft, subdued olive com- 
plexion of the average Thlinget young woman is 
very pleasing. 

The half-breeds are invariably bright and good- 
looking. Some of them are really handsome. 
They dress in good taste and present a good ap- 
pearance. They are inclined to affiliate more with 
the white people than with the natives. It seems, 
indeed, to be their natural place and it is so ac- 
cepted. They seek education and many of them 
after schooling drop into good positions among 
the white people. Some of them have shown high 
ability and are now in positions of responsibility. 
Possessing, as a rule, a captivating personality, 
they seemingly have but little trouble to find a 
place in the world. 



VIII 
INDUSTRIES 



T 



HE Thlingets, as already said, are self-sup- 
porting, not wards of the government in 
fact they have been woefully neglected by 
the government. They ask only the opportunity 
to eirn a livelihood and that their natural re- 
sources be not destroyed. 

*' Unlike the American Indians," writes tiie 
Hon A. P. Swineford, at one time Governor ot 
Alaska " these people are industrious and selt- 
supporting." Professor Dall bears testimony to 

the same truth. 

Unfortunately for them, their industries aie 
very limited and their seasons very short, ineir 
main dependence is on fisliing and employment m 
the canneries. They catch salmon and halibut tor 
the local markets, shippers, salteries and can- 



The halibut are caught with line and hook, her- 
ring being used for bait. The old style of hook 
was a V-shaped piece of ^^od mth an iron tooth 
about two inches long pro,iectmg from the uppei 
side almost across the angle of the hook, and 
pointing downward. The unwary halibut rans his 
nose into the V for the bait and becomes hooked 
Wliile some natives prefer this, most of them use 
the modern, up-to-date hook. The old style are 
sold as curiosities. _ 

Formerly the halibut hue, as was all rope, was 




TREADWKLL GOLD MINE 



METHODS OF FISHING 73 

made of the fibre of the spruce tree aud entirely 
by hand. The women made it and became expert 
in manufacturing cordage of all sizes. It was a 
tedious job, and particularly wearisome to the 
children who were compelled to hold one end of 
the line while the mother wove the material into 
rope. The lines were made many fathoms long, 
as uniform as if made by machine, and exception- 
ally strong. We have in our possession a very 
long, native-made halibut line with hook (old 
style) attached. It is a fine piece of work, and 
apparently as strong now as when it was made 
fifty years ago. It is doubled strand and three- 
eighths of an inch in diameter. 

The natives do not build fish-traps. A few of 
them use gill-nets. By their methods of fishing 
they could never destroy, nor even diminish to 
any appreciable extent, the fish supply. It is the 
white man with his seines and fish-traps that is 
a menace to this natural resource of the country. 

Not only the native men, but women and chil- 
dren, work in the canneries. It is deplorable that 
the women and girls feel the necessity of seeking 
employment in these places, for, as a rule, they 
work with Chinamen who are the very scum of 
their nation, and the native women and girls are 
far from being elevated by their contact with 
them. Then, too, it is dirty employment and de- 
grading. We would protest if white women and 
girls worked in them. The native women and 
girls do so because there is practically no other 
way for them to get the few dollars they make 
in a season. We regret that there is nothing more 
elevating in the way of employment for them. 

One of the leading industries of the country is 
mining. This is a new industry to the native, 



74 INDUSTRIES 

having been introduced by tlie white man. Yet 
to-day scores of natives are e. ployed in the 
mines, chiefly at Treadwell and Juneau. Some 
of them are expert machine-men, capable of han- 
dling steam drills with skill, but most of them are 
mere labourers. They have given good satisfac- 
tion as miners, but many of them are averse to 
working in the mines on account of the danger 
and the hard work involved. Fishing and hunt- 
ing, their natural industries, appeal to them more 
strongly, but hunting and trapping, which once 
occupied the foremost place in the industries of 
the Thlingets, have now fallen to third or fourth 
place. Some never engage in them at all. 

The natives living adjacent to the ocean find 
lucrative employment in hunting the fur-seal and 
the sea-otter. This is especially true of the Hy- 
dahs, who live near Dixon Entrance, of the Sit- 
kans, who live on Norfolk Sound, and of the 
Hoonahs, who live on Icy Strait. These all have 
access to the ocean where the seal and sea-otter 
are found. When a sea-otter is seen he is quickly 
surrounded with canoes and speared or shot by 
native experts. A single otter skin brings from 
four to eight hundred dollars. 

All kinds of land animals are sought by native 
hunters, but chiefly the deer, bear and fox. The 
first are killed mainly for food. Their pelts are 
not now marketable, and when they were they 
brought only fifty or seventy-five cents apiece. 
The skin is largely made into moccasins and 
pouches, adorned with beads, by the native 
women. Aside from this, little use is made of it. 

Bears and foxes are killed mainly for their furs. 
Bear skins bring from five to forty dollars apiece, 
according to their quality. The fur of the red fox 



CARVING IN WOOD AND METALS 75 

has little value, but that of the blue, black or 
silver is very valuable, the silver bringing as high 
as fourteen and fifteen hundred dollars apiece. 
Of course these beauties are not caught every day. 

Mountain sheep, which a few years ago were 
plentiful, but are now scarce, are occasionally 
hunted. The meat of the animal is highly prized, 
and its fur makes a very desirable rug. They 
have very little market value. The marten, 
beaver, mink and land-otter, as well as other fur- 
bearing animals, are bagged when they cross the 
native's path. The dressing of animals and the 
curing of furs are done almost exclusively by 
the women. 

During the great Klondike boom in the year 
1898, many took supplies and outfits for pros- 
pectors and fortune hunters from the beach up 
over the famous Chilkoot and White Passes into 
the Yukon country. Some of them showed won- 
derful packing ability and made big money at this 
laborious work. 

Carving in wood, silver, horn and stone (black 
slate) gives employment to some. These carvings 
are turned out every season for the tourist trade. 
There is a good demand for them, and not a few 
dollars are picked up in this way. From the 
yellow cedar they carve miniature totem poles, 
canoes, paddles and trinket boxes; from silver 
coin they make bracelets, rings, spoons, napkin- 
rings, paper-cutters, butter-knives and stick-pins, 
all carrying totemic designs; from the horn of 
the mountain sheep, large spoons with fancy to- 
temic handles; from the slate, totems, pipes and 
vessels of different designs. A great deal of 
skill, ingenuity and art is evidenced in these 
carvings. 



76 INDUSTRIES 

A few Thlingets are carpenters and some are 
cobblers. A few are engaged in business on a 
small scale. While naturally shrewd traders, very 
few of them have any talent or inclination for 
business. They are rarely found in any of the pro- 
fessions. A few of the young women are teachers, 
having been educated in mission and government 
schools. 

The women, on the whole, are more industrious 
than the men. In addition to their domestic 
cares, they manufacture (by hand, of course) mit- 
tens, moccasins, baskets and all kinds of beadwork 
for sale. In the summer time they are very busy 
putting up food for winter, and in the winter 
with their sewing and weaving. 

The mittens they make are for workmen and re- 
tail for twenty-five cents a pair. The back is made 
of blue or brown denim and the palm of light 
duck. They are sold at the local stores, as are 
the moccasins made from the dressed skin of 
the deer or mountain sheep, the fur of the hair- 
seal, and moose hide, the latter being the most 
durable. As the moose and mountain sheep are 
much harder to get than the deer, the deerskin 
moccasins are most common. They are both 
plain and fancy, ranging in price from fifty 
cents a pair to five dollars. The fancy ones 
are ornamented with beads, and are fleece or fur 
lined. 

Blankets are made of the wool of the mountain 
sheep and of squirrel skins, the former being 
known as Chilkat blankets because they originated 
with the Chilkat natives, and are made chiefly by 
them. It requires great skill, patience, and 
months of time to make a single Chilkat blanket. 
It is a long and tedious process to card the wool 



CHILKAT BLANKETS 77 

and make the yarn and dye it. Then follow 
months of toil in the weaving. 

The pattern is always totemic; on the best 
blankets it bears the head of the trout (squatz). 
It is painted on a board from three to four feet 
long and two and a half feet mde. The weaving 
is done in a frame about five feet long and three 
feet wide, but the blankets are of different sizes. 
The weaver sits in front of the frame mth her 
pattern at one side where she can readily see it 
as she weaves. Her yarns vary in size from a 
thread to a coarse cord, some being the natural 
colour while others are black and yellow. These 
are the only colours, so far as we remember (and 
we have seen many of them), that ever go into a 
Chilkat blanket. 

The white represents the mountain sheep; the 
black, the crow, the patron bird of the great Crow 
fraternity; and the yellow the eagle (whose claws 
and beak are yellow) , the patron bird of the great 
Eagle fraternity. The Thlinget term for yellow 
is tschak {or clieth)-gm-diya — eagle-claw colour. 

These blankets are worth from seventy-five to 
one hundred and fifty dollars each, according to 
the size and workmanship. They will wear in- 
definitely, so compactly are they woven. The 
colours used are practically indestructible, as none 
but native dyes are used in them. They are more 
ornamental than practical, as they are not used 
for covering the body as bedding, but originally 
were made as part of a chief's dancing costume, 
and to throw over him as he lay in state after 
death. This was to indicate his rank and high 
station in life. Only rich and high-caste natives 
possessed them. 

They now have an artistic value as well as or- 



78 INDUSTRIES 

namental, showing what natural artists some of 
these natives are. The patterns are faultlessly 
woven into the blanket, entirely by eye, a feat re- 
quiring nice skill. We have watched the weaver 
by the hour as she deftly wove her yarns into 
this artistic fabric, and wondered how she could 
follow the design so accurately just by glancing 
at the pattern on the board. Wealthy tourists pur- 
chase these Chilkat blankets as fine specimens of 
native art and workmanship, using them to orna- 
ment their curio corners. 

Squirrel robes were once plentiful, but now it 
does not pay to make them. From seventy to a 
hundred skins of the chattering little fellows are 
sewed together in such a manner as to make the 
robe look like one large fur. At one time these 
robes could be bought for two dollars apiece, the 
amount hardly covering the cost of the ammuni- 
tion used in killing the squirrels. As they are 
rarely seen now, they have advanced largely in 
price. 

Various kinds of beadwork are made for the 
market, and these help to swell the financial re- 
ceipts of the women. Moccasins, pouches and 
various articles used in the dance are ornamented 
with beads. In early times all designs were to- 
temic, but now they are taken from fashion-plates, 
catalogues, wall-paper and other places. While 
some of this work is really artistic, most of it is 
poor and commands little money. The tourists 
buy little of it, as their great hobby is baskets. 

Some years ago the women were skilled in 
making suck-a-chew (pottery). Scarcely a trace 
of this art can now be found. Like rope-making, 
it has fallen into desuetude. 

Za/c( canoe) -building, which at one time was a 



CANOE-BUILDING 79 

thriving industry, is now practically a back num- 
ber. There were regular builders who constructed 
them and put them on the market to meet the 
demand, which was heavy. 

Canoes are frail and not durable. Their great- 
est enemy is the sun, and the natives must either 
cover them over or keep them wet when exposed 
to it. If travelling when the sun shines, they 
frequently fill their bailing-shell with water and 
throw it all over the canoe. When ashore, they 
keep the canoes covered with blankets, boards, 
brush or grass to protect them. If they lived in 
a land of much sunshine it would be almost im- 
possible to keep their canoes a month. As it is, 
though they live in a land of clouds and rain, 
they have a hard time to protect them. 

Canoe-building demanded much skill from the 
workman, and his product commanded big money. 
Some canoes brought four or five hundred dollars 
apiece. No matter how large, every one was built 
out of a solid log — generally of yellow cedar. The 
adz was the principal tool used. Indeed, few and 
rude were the tools employed in early times, and 
yet fine workmanship was done. 

The log is first dug out until it roughly resem- 
bles a canoe. It is then filled with water and this 
is heated with hot stones. The wood thus steamed 
becomes pliable, and braces are put in to hold it 
to the desired shape. This accomplished, the 
workman finishes the job by chipping and chip- 
ping and sandpapering (literally dog-fish-paper- 
ing, as dogfish skin was used before real sand- 
paper was introduced to the natives), until the 
craft with its beautiful lines is ready for the sea. 

The braces are left in and are used in lieu of 
seats, but in the days of the paddle, the usual seat 



80 INDUSTRIES 

was the bottom of the craft. This accounts for 
many of the natives having misshapen legs. Until 
long after the white man came, canoes were pro- 
pelled entirely with paddles. Gradually oars were 
introduced, and now they are propelled by the 
combination of oars and paddle, except when the 
sail is brought into service. Every native uses 
his sail whenever he can, as ro"\ving or paddling 
is no pastime with him. 

The women are as expert in handling the canoe 
as the men. They invariably act as captain, sit- 
ting in the stern of the craft. Though the little 
ship may have a rudder, yet the captain always 
has a paddle in her hand to use when required. 
Often the women travel by themselves, especially 
in the berry season. Men disdain picking berries, 
considering that the work of women. But the 
women are the most independent of people and 
so go off alone for berries and also for cockles, 
clams, mussels and other sea food. 

It is a marvel how big, heavy, clumsy women 
manage getting in and out of the small canoes 
without capsizing them. But they do. 

We are acquainted with a woman who one night, 
all alone, sailed a canoe a distance of seventy 
miles with two dead people in it. They had been 
poisoned by eating mussels, and she took the long, 
lonely journey in order to reach their people. 

The women being experts with the paddle and 
handy with the oars, they are genuine helpmeets 
to their husbands when travelling. 

Canoes are of all sizes. Some will not carry 
more than two persons, while others will carry 
forty or fifty. When nicely ballasted, these will 
weather rough seas and heavy winds. 

The prows of some are proudly decorated with 



WAR-CANOES 81 

totemic designs, war-canoes being generally thus 
treated. A chief named Samhat, living at Kassan, 
gave to the District of Alaska a large war-canoe 
of this type. It is forty-seven feet long, more 
than six feet across the beam, and three and one- 
half feet deep. It is now kept with other relics 
at Sitka. 

During the days of native warfare, these proud 
monarchs of the deep were looked upon as pos- 
sessing intelligence and sharing the honour of 
victories and the shame of defeat. Sometimes 
they were smashed by the defeated tribe, as if in 
some way to blame. 

For beauty of line, the high-class native canoes 
are hard to beat. The model was suggested to 
the natives by the breast bone of the mallard 
duck. The wishbone of the duck suggested the 
snowshoe, which at one time was largely made and 
used by these people. 

For years, on national holidays when sports 
were indulged in, the canoe-race was the most 
attractive feature of the day. Each canoe had 
a crew of twelve or fourteen men, and from three 
to five canoes generally entered the race. The 
distance covered was from three to four miles. 
Every native in the race was in shirt sleeves with 
bare head. As soon as the signal to start was 
given, the paddles of each boat dipped simultane- 
ously into the water and this uniformity of stroke 
was maintained throughout the entire course. At 
every stroke the canoe was almost literally lifted 
out of the water. As they crossed the line at the 
finish, every paddle was lifted upright and a loud 
huzza went up from the throats of the contestants. 
This was especially true of the victorious crew, 
who would proudly pocket their prize of a hundred 



82 INDUSTRIES 

to a hundred and fifty dollars. These races will 
stand out in the memory of all who ever saw them, 
as they were sports of unusual attraction. 

As totem poles are practically no longer erected, 
this industry is at an end. 

The Thlingets never had, and probably never 
will have, any extensive commercial activities. 
The trading they did among themselves was in- 
considerable. The common method of obtaining 
property was by force (war), condemnation pro- 
ceedings on the grounds of injury, or insults, and 
entail through death. The little trading that was 
carried on between the Thlingets and the Sticks, 
or Interior, Indians was controlled by the haughty 
Chilkats. Even this traffic ceased years ago, the 
Klondike gold discovery being responsible for it. 

The Interior Indians were rich in furs which 
were coveted by the Thlingets. The latter would 
carry prints, blankets and other articles not too 
difficult to pack, over the coast mountain range 
and into the country of the Sticks and barter them 
for furs. These they would get on their own 
terms, as the Sticks were a spiritless class and 
easily intimidated by the Thlingets. This traffic 
never amounted to much. 

A Takou chief, whose home was at Juneau, and 
who was drowned some years ago, once did a 
thriving business with a trading schooner. He 
would send to Portland, Oregon, for two or three 
thousand dollars worth of goods at a time. He 
would take his stock to various villages and dis- 
pose of it at a handsome profit. He was shrewd, 
calculating and unscrupulous enough to take every 
advantage possible. He accumulated several 
thousand dollars before his death, but no other 
native has conducted a similar enterprise. 



THE HYDABURG ENTERPRISE 83 

There are no capitalists among these natives. 
Seemingly they do not know how to handle large 
sums of money. If they get any amount of it they 
hoard it rather than invest it. The promise of 
interest and income from investments has little 
or no weight with them. Only immediate results 
appeal to the average native mind. They are ex- 
tremely suspicious of one another, and for this 
reason will not combine and form companies for 
their mutual advantage. 

Until quite recently nothing along this line has 
been attempted. Some months ago the United 
States Government encouraged the natives of 
Hydaburg (a settlement of Hydah-speaking abo- 
rigines) to form a stock company to operate a 
store in that village. Some of the Thlingets, hear- 
ing of this enterprise, have recently imitated their 
Hydah brethren by combining to operate stores, 
one such company having been formed at Kla- 
wock and one at Klukwan. As these are in their 
experimental stage, it remains to be seen what 
success they meet. Since they will have little, if 
any, patronage aside from the members them- 
selves, it is clear that they will not get very much 
out of them but what they themselves put in, and 
will never amass any great amount of wealth from 
such combinations. It may, however, be good 
training for them, and while they will not make 
much, they will not lose much. 

But the white man is everywhere operating. He 
has in every way the advantage of his Thlinget 
brother; to meet him in business competition will 
be no easy task. In fact the chance for a native 
to accumulate much wealth in enterprises confined 
to his own people is very small. He has a better 
chance if he puts his money into enterprises car- 



84 INDUSTRIES 

ried on by white men. But until his confidence in 
the white man is stronger than it is at present 
he will not do this. 

We have substantial banks in Alaska where na- 
tives might deposit some of their earnings and ac- 
cumulate a little capital with which to engage in 
money-making enterprises, but they will not avail 
themselves of the opportunity. This is due largely 
to a want of confidence. They can never hope to 
attain to opulence and plenty until, like the white 
man, they make money as well as their hands work 
for them. Up to the present they have depended 
entirely on their hands for means, hence as to 
wealth they are not very rich per capita. There 
are money-making enterprises in their midst. 
Their investments in these would be welcomed. 
And while they would stand a chance of losing, 
they would also stand a chance of gaining. But, 
lacking confidence, they venture nothing. 



IX 
BASKETEY 

OF all tHe' industries common to women the 
making of baskets is by far the most ex- 
tensive. One can scarcely enter a house 
without seeing women engaged in weaving them. 
Prices have advanced within the last decade sev- 
eral hundred per cent. Baskets that could have 
been bought ten years ago for five dollars would 
now bring twenty dollars. This has given an im- 
petus to those who make them, but this, like other 
native arts, is on the wane. 

If they were paid in proportion to the time it 
takes to make the baskets, prices would have to 
advance still higher. It takes time and labour to 
procure the raw material, which consists of the 
tender roots of the young spruce tree and certain 
grasses; to soften the former by soaking and 
steaming to make them pliable and workable; to 
prepare the dyes and dye the straws the different 
colours; to split and trim the roots and grasses 
into fine and coarse strands, and then to weave 
them into the finished article. 

This being so, we can little wonder that the 
rising generation of girls, who are learning the 
white man's value of time and who have other 
opportunities of earning money, take little or no 
interest in basket-weaving. It is an industry 
mostly engaged in by elderly Thlinget women, and 

85 



86 BASKETRY 

when these have passed away basket-making will 
be practically at an end. 

The summer tourist trade in baskets is very 
large, and wealthy tourists are responsible for the 
prevailing high prices. 

There are baskets, and baskets — that is, there 
are some coarse and worthless and some fine and 
valuable. Every community has its fine and 
coarse weavers, its amateurs and its real artists 
in weaving. 

Lieutenant G. T. Emmons has published an in- 
teresting work on native basketry which every 
connoisseur should read. We think that he claims 
too much, in asserting that every design on a 
basket has special significance. It is true that 
many have. It is no less true that some have been 
copied from patterns seen on blankets, on wall- 
paper and on other objects. In earlier days all 
designs were native and totemic, but this is not 
true of all seen to-day. 

Baskets are named and known to all natives 
according to the chief design they bear, their 
weave, the material they are made of, their 
shape, the size, or the use to which they are 
put. 

The basket with this design, ^a;, is called 
hon-nast' , meaning the cross; with this, "▼▼▼ 
kluk-shd-yd-kee ge, meaning half berry; with this, 
<^> thld-kd-dd-di'she, which is the name of the 
bat, who is diamond-shape when his wings are 
stretched out; with this, J^ d-lidne, meaning 
arrow-head; with this, jSSSL klee {h\auket)-ivdn- 
kus-d-d'yd, meaning blanket pattern; with this, 
■Tj-LT" tsow (hat) -sok-toot'se, meaning dancing 
hat pattern; with either of these designs, fHia 
;iF^F^, it is called shd-di-yd-age, meaning dancing 



WEAVE AND SHAPE 87 

basket, as either design is worn on dancing hats 
made of the basket material. 

When named according to the weave, chdk-che- 
won-kd-see'de (tendon in the eagle's claw) is the 
name of the basket with a cord-like raise running 
around it. It is so called because in early times 
this cord was taken from the claw of the eagle. 
Wdk-us-kot' is the name of the open or lattice- 
work basket; ivoosh-td-kd'ge of the closely woven, 
water-tight basket; kok-sd-ha dy of the basket 
made with plain stitches close together; woosh- 
td-fiagy of the one with plain stitches underneath 
the figure; kot-dt-tlileky of the one with the rim 
finished in a certain way, and kok-e-sut' of the one 
with the bottom finished in a certain style. 

The names, according to shape, are: too-dd- 
hook', the covered basket; so called because of the 
stones taken from the craw of the grouse and put 
in the top of the lid. When the lid is shaken the 
stones rattle. Stones gathered anywhere else 
cannot be used for this purpose. Tolth is the 
name of a large shallow basket used for catching 
berries when they are shaken from the bush, 
which is the usual mode of gathering huckle- 
berries. Woostd-dd-kut-tzoo is the name of the 
basket that is made entirely of straw. The word 
means '' all straw." 

The Thlingets originally had no weights and 
measures. Everything sold, or exchanged, was 
by the chunk, or piece, or basket. Hence to dis- 
tinguish the sizes of baskets the largest was called 
chew-kdt' , the next size yd'nali, and the size used 
for stringing around the neck and picking berries 
in and which when filled was dumped into a large 
one, was called sd-kd-ton'ny. 

Woosh-to-qiiage is the name given to the 



88 BASKETRY 

merely plain basket without any design, and hd- 
ge-sut' (three roots) is another name given to a 
slightly different basket. 

From the above, the reader is not to infer that 
only three sizes of baskets are made. Far from 
it. The sizes are legion — from the capacity of 
a thimble to a bushel or more. The sizes 
mentioned were more as gauges of measure- 
ment. 

Then baskets are named according to what they 
are used for. Kot means strainer and is the name 
of the openwork basket used for straining oils. 
Naukth is the name of a basket made from the 
bark of a tree and used as a gunny sack for hold- 
ing potatoes. 

Baskets are now made of all sizes, shapes and 
styles. Some represent tea-kettles or stew-pots; 
some are oblong or round, and flaring from the 
bottom up; some are deep and some are shallow. 
Bottles and canes are beautifully covered with 
basket material, and small mats and hats, used 
principally in dancing, are made of it. Some of 
these are very expensive, costing as high as forty 
dollars apiece. 

Baskets used for cooking prior to the advent 
of the iron pot, were plain, without any design, 
and strongly made. 

There is a mammoth basket kept at Kluckwan 
that is called the Mother-of-baskets. The natives 
have a tradition that this is the progenitor of all 
baskets. Several women worked on it at the same 
time. No one is allowed to make so large a one 
now. 

The baskets bearing the native dyes are far 
more valuable, other work being equal, than those 
that have the common diamond dyes, as the na- 



COLOURINGS 89 

tive dyes are much more durable. They remain 
bright indefinitely. 

The brilliant yellow seen in baskets and in the 
famous Chilkat blankets is obtained from a moss 
that grows on certain trees. Green is obtained 
from copper rocks and from a common weed. Its 
leaves are boiled and the liquid makes a bright 
green dye. They get the red from certain red 
berries, and purple from blueberries. 

The most durable and brilliant black is that of 
natural black straws found in the bottom of cer- 
tain lakes. There is a black made from soot and 
other ingredients, but it is inferior to the natural 
black straw. Bro^\Ti is obtained from strong 
urine. 

Baskets coloured with any of these native dyes 
are not so common as are those with the ordinary 
dyes, and many buy baskets without a question 
as to whether the dyes are native or not. 

One of the most particular pieces of work in 
connection with fine basket-weaving is splitting 
the fibre and straws. This requires much prac- 
tice and skill in order to make them uniform. And 
if the straws are not uniform in size the work is 
uneven and botchy. Certain old women are very 
dexterous in making fine fibres and straws. They 
have a clam-shaped i3iece of steel, the edge of 
which is very sharp. With this they split the 
fibre, take the end of one in the mouth while they 
cleverly work the other off with their fingers. 
The trick is to make the strands as nearly uniform 
as possible without wasting the material. If it 
breaks off too short, or runs thick and then thin, 
it is rejected. 

Basket-weavers sit with the legs outright on 
the floor with the basket in the lap, and in a 



90 BASKETRY 

stooping posture with one knee down and the 
other up. Some women are very round-shoul- 
dered because of this habit. All designs are 
woven in the basket without any pattern before 
them. It is all taken from the mind and is a 
marvel of accuracy on this account. Very intri- 
cate designs are often made, and yet with such 
precision as if the basket had been stamped with 
a die. This is the real marvel in basket-weaving. 
The fineness consists in getting fine fibre and close 
weaving, but working in the patterns or designs 
is a matter of nice mental calculation, accuracy of 
vision and discrimination of just proportions. 

The bottom of the basket is first made. When 
this is completed a piece of cardboard, the same 
size as the bottom, is sewed on the inner side. 
This is done to stiffen it, that the upper part may 
be worked to better advantage. Beside the weaver 
is a vessel of water into which she thrusts her 
fingers every minute or so while she is weaving, 
to keep the fibre moist and pliable. If too dry, it 
does not work well. 

Every woman is the vendor of her own baskets. 
On the arrival of steamers they take their stock 
in hand and make for the wharves. Some advan- 
tageous point is selected so as to catch the eye of 
the traveller. There they sit without a word until 
spoken to. If they know nothing of the Englisli 
they are handicapped, unless an English-speaking 
native is near. But a little knowledge of it en- 
ables them to carry on their trade. They have 
a uniform price for their wares, seldom making 
any reduction. They seem unconcerned whether 
they sell their products or not. You may take 
them or leave them. All is quiet, and no effort 
is put forth to induce the prospective purchaser 



VENDING BASKETS 91 

to buy. If lie buys, and puts down the price, well 
and good. If he does not it is all the same. 

No matter at what hour the steamer arrives, be 
it two o'clock in the morning, the native curio 
vendor is there to do business. 

It is an interesting sight to see anywhere from 
six to a dozen native girls and women squatting 
along the passage-way as one leaves or boards the 
steamer with their wares such as baskets, bead- 
work, carvings, etc., spread out to view on the 
sidewalk or ground. 

And, as this trade is entirely with the tourists, 
it behooves them to meet all tourist-carrying 
steamers no matter what hour their arrival. It 
is a traffic which brings them in a good revenue, 
and the old women especially are right on to the 
job. In sunshine or rain, day or night, when 
the steamer lands they are lined up ready for 
business. 



X 

TEAITS 

ONE of tlie most conspicuous traits of tli6 
Thlinget is independence. What he wants 
to do he will do, as a rule. He lives for the 
present, and gratifies the desires of the hour, no 
matter what it may cost him. If given his choice 
whether to accept five dollars at once or fifty 
dollars a year hence, although reasonably certain 
that he could have the fifty dollars, he would ac- 
cept the five, and be done with it. The NOW ap- 
peals to him. No job, however lucrative, holds 
him if he wants a holiday, or a lay-otf to hunt, 
or even to loaf. Because of this trait, he is un- 
reliable as an employe. Without a moment's no- 
tice, he will throw up his job and leave; and it 
may be at a time when his services are most 
needed. But he cares neither about the incon- 
venience he may make his employer nor the loss 
that falls upon himself. A white man thinks 
twice before he throws up his job. Not so with the 
Thlinget. His desires, more than his needs, con- 
trol him. 

Nothing galls him like being '' bossed " or con- 
trolled. To him it is a species of slavery, and the 
slave is the lowest of all beings, in his estimation. 
It is for this reason that the people make poor 
and unreliable servants. The native girl who is 
hired as a domestic servant does not stay long. 
She wants her own way, to go off and return when 

92 



VANITY 93 

she pleases, and cliafes under commands or re- 
strictions. 

This independent nature of the native should 
not surprise us when we remember that he has 
grown up, practically speaking, in absolute free- 
dom, even in childhood. 

Vanity is another Thlinget trait. They are very 
fond of military uniforms, caps and badges. Not 
a few join the Salvation Army that they may 
wear its caps and uniforms. We know a certain 
chief who changed his clothes several times while 
the transient tourist steamer was lying at the 
wharf, in order to display his suits. He would 
appear at the steamer and parade around until 
he was satisfied that he had been observed in all 
of his finery. He had military suits bedecked 
with badges, priestly suits (Russian), and other 
remarkable garments, all mainly for show. No 
peacock ever strutted around with more vanity 
than he. 

For vainglory they often destroy their own 
property. We have seen fine canoes demolished 
with an axe in a few moments of time; dishes, 
stoves and other household goods smashed by 
their proud owner, just that he might be consid- 
ered a greater man than some other. In the days 
of slavery, owners of slaves vied with one another 
in the sacrifice of slaves. Slaves were property, 
and the owner who destroyed the most was consid- 
ered the greatest man. Potlatches are given more 
for vainglory than for anything else. Public 
praise and honour are the objects in view. 

Because oolikan oil is a luxury, and costly, 
chiefs spatter their canoe sails with it to indicate 
that they are rich enough to waste the article. 

Touchiness, or sensitiveness, is another con- 



94 TRAITS 

spicuous trait of the Thlinget. He often takes 
offence when none is intended. He is very sensi- 
tive to slights, innuendoes, rebukes, blame, cen- 
sure, shame and ridicule. 

He takes offence if he is asked to do the slight- 
est service for one whom he regards as of a lower 
caste than himself, or to perform any service 
without compensation, if his proffered gift is re- 
fused, or if one objects to any of his food. 

If, out of sympathy, you say to a widow, " It 
is too bad you lost your husband," she takes of- 
fence. She regards it as an insinuation that she 
poisoned him, or did something to kill him. 

But the most cutting thing of all to a Thlinget 
is to be laughed at or ridiculed. He fairly burns 
with shame at this. He has a sick tiimtum 
(heart) for days and days, and if the offender 
is a native he is sometimes compelled to pay for 
the offence. 

White people who are not familiar with the 
ways of the natives may very innocently offend 
them. Indeed their warmest white friends have 
not infrequently done this. 

They are very sensitive to insults, and demand 
apologies, with payment for their wounded feel- 
ings. Generally a feast is given and the offence 
atoned for by a proper money payment. One man 
saw another encroaching on what he considered 
his fishing ground. He went to the trespasser, 
seized his gaff and broke it in pieces. This was 
a grave insult to the man who owned the gaff- 
hook, but he did not then resent it. His tribe, 
however, took it up, and in due time proper 
apologies were made, with a large payment to 
the offended party. 

A certain chief was highly indignant because 



IDEAS OF DISGRACE AND SHAME 95 

others had received invitations to attend a cer- 
tain feast before himself. He went around the 
community storming about it. The feast was held 
some thirty miles away, and he absolutely re- 
fused to attend because of this breach of etiquette. 
His, too, would have been the lion's share in the 
distribution of goods at the feast. 

The Thlingets regard it as a shameful thing to 
have the face cut or scratched by another. Such 
an injury must be atoned for by a big money 
consideration, and it is a disgrace to the injured 
one and his tribe if they do not persist until the 
injury has been paid for. Consequently all na- 
tives receiving such injuries never let up on the 
perpetrator and his tribe until a satisfactory set- 
tlement has been eJEfected. Hounding is one of 
their characteristics. A creditor pursues his 
debtor until the uttermost farthing is paid, nor 
does the injured forgive or forget, nor cease to 
clamour until he has had his redress. Not to be 
paid for an injury is a great shame. 

It is a matter of shame to a Thlinget to have 
his opponent in a quarrel destroy at the time more 
personal property than he does. This shows who 
is the richer man or woman, or the one who has 
the greater contempt for property. The defeated 
one has the contempt of all the community. 

Two women were quarrelling. In a rage one 
of them said to the other, " I'll shut you up! " 
At that she rushed into her house, came out with 
both hands full of silver money and scattered it 
to the crowd that was watching the proceedings. 
This did shut the mouth of her opponent, as she 
could not do likewise. 

A man in an altercation shoved a chief's wife 
and she fell. The chief owned a number of slaves. 



96 TRAITS 

As soon as the wronged woman informed her hus- 
band, he sought revenge by heaping a greater 
shame upon the man who gave the insult, accom- 
phshing it by making a pubhc sacrifice of some 
of his slaves. As the man who offered the insult 
had no slaves to sacrifice, he was thus put to ever- 
lasting shame. So now when natives quarrel it 
is a common thing for one to say to the other, 
' ' Shut up ! You might be like Mitkeen, ' ' that is, 
have nothing to destroy in order to get even. 

To be called a slave, or a witch, is a shame to 
any native, and sometimes leads to bloodshed. It 
is a great shame to any native if one speaks con- 
temptuously of his grandmother. There is no 
insult which he will more quickly resent than this. 

The Thlingets are revengeful. An injury is 
never forgotten or forgiven with most of them 
until in some way they have had revenge. An 
eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, has been, 
and still is, an established principle witli them. It 
may be long before they strike back, but they 
surely will some day. The Sitkans waited years 
to avenge the massacre of their men by the 
Wrangell natives. But the day of revenge came, 
and the slaughter was fearful. 

Jealousy is another of their traits. On mere 
suspicion wives have been cruelly beaten and dis- 
figured for life by their husbands. Women are 
sometimes fearfully jealous of each other. When 
so, each tries to disfigure the other. 

The Thlingets are very crafty. They resort to 
all sorts of schemes by which to get money or 
property for themselves. Matters that were sup- 
posed settled years ago are raked up and made 
the basis for a money claim. They will force some 
insignificant and undesirable present on another, 



CRAFTY AND POLITIC 97 

and in due time demand five or ten times as much 
in return. Some article is given for the dead, 
and after the funeral the relatives of the deceased 
give ten times as much in return. The most ab- 
surd claims are made for money. A native who 
owned an interest in a well-paying gold mine was 
hounded for money by a woman, on the ground 
that she and her people used to fish in the stream 
near the gold mine. Another woman insisted on 
a man paying her some money because at one time 
she prayed (so she claimed) for the superintend- 
ent of the Training School to take his sister into 
the school. She urged that it was owing to her 
prayer that the sister was taken in, and the girl's 
education was, therefore, due to her. For this 
reason she claimed that the brother should pay 
her some money. 

Some put on a poor face when they have scores 
of blankets stored away and much money hoarded 
up. They seem to think that the missionary is 
their legitimate prey, that he came among them 
to open his purse to them whenever he is appealed 
to. If he refuses, as he is often obliged to do, 
he is " Kla-oosh-ka " (no good). 

The Thlinget is usually very politic, temporiz- 
ing according as he believes it is his personal in- 
terest or not. The public weal never appeals to 
him. Cunning and deceit are thought smart and 
considered commendable. In trade, the white 
man has to be shrewd to outwit the average 
Thlinget. 

Seldom do we find an avaricious native. On the 
contrary, he is inclined to extravagance and to be 
a spendthrift. If he saves, it is not for the love 
of hoarding, but that he may give the more, in 
due time, at a feast. As a rule, he spends freely 



98 TRAITS 

and saves little, believing in tlie Epicurean doc- 
trine—the present gratification of fleshly desires. 

Fickleness is a trait of the native mind. In 
this respect the natives are very much like chil- 
dren. They make a bargain and close the deal. 
Afterwards they repent of the bargain, demand to 
trade back and generally manage to do so. The 
native may be your friend to-day and your worst 
enemy to-morrow. He changes his mind for very 
slight reasons. He lacks, as a rule, any sense of 
honour in holding to his promises, contracts or 
bargains. You may befriend him all you please, 
but if you offend him, or cross him, in anything, 
he will forget all you have done for him and re- 
ward you with ill will. 

'' One fairly w^earies," writes a government 
teacher, in one of her official reports, '' of an effort 
to protect them. They can lie so successfully and 
they will go against the missionary and the gov- 
ernment teacher and all who are trying to help 
and uplift them, and will stand by the one who 
furnishes them the intoxicants — and why? Be- 
cause they want to seek it yet again." 

They are inclined to be stolid and undemon- 
strative in the presence of white strangers, but 
among themselves they are loquacious, lively and 
full of fun and laughter. They have wonderful 
control of their feelings. If taken to New York 
City, though filled with wonder at the sights, they 
would maintain as much indifference as if they 
had always lived there. We have taken Thlinget 
children to the States and when we arrived at 
Seattle, have looked for some expressions of sur- 
prise and wonder on their faces. But no change 
was visible, nor could we discover the slightest 
emotion. 



FORTITUDE AND AFFECTION 99 

Endurance of bodily pain, especially by the 
women, is a cliaracteristic trait. In order to bear 
pain without a groan, they often put a stick be- 
tween their teeth to bite on. Even children are 
taught to bear bodily pain bravely. The writer 
saw an old woman walk barefoot to the beach and 
wade into the water up to her knees with floating 
ice all around her, get into a canoe, take her seat 
with bare, cold feet and paddle off, and at the very 
moment the thermometer was only seven degrees 
above zero. 

When loved ones die, grief takes strong hold 
upon them, but it is ephemeral. So poignant at 
times is their grief that they throw themselves 
into the fire, tear out their hair, stupefy them- 
selves with liquor and even commit suicide. 

Kindred have strong affection for one another. 
This is especially true of parents and children. 
If any member of the family is seriously ill, no 
matter how far away the others may be, they 
will go to him if they have the means to do so. 
Parents are very considerate of their children 
when they are sick. Sick natives in our hospitals 
at Juneau are often visited by their relatives who 
live many miles away. They are tender in their 
ministrations to the dying, and show deep sym- 
pathy for one who meets with any serious bodily 
injury. _ 

Hospitality, another conspicuous trait of these 
people, will be considered in the chapter on to- 
temism. 

Sociability is one of their strong points. One 
of the severest punishments to a native is to com- 
pel him to live apart from his people. Men who 
have been sent to penitentiaries in the States 
have soon died after their incarceration. No 



100 TRAITS 

Thlinget will live in solitude by himself, like a 
wMte man. 

Many of them have sunny dispositions and are 
full of humour and wit. Among themselves they 
are continually joking, laughing and making funny 
remarks. We have been with them in camp and 
in their homes, have frequently been at their so- 
cials, and can truly say that never have we seen 
a people, as a class, take life so happily, evince 
more humour and bubble over more with laughter. 

They are excessively fond of all kinds of amuse- 
ments. In their socials they play all kinds of 
games that provoke laughter. They are very imi- 
tative, and are born mimics and mockers. Native 
children in our missions show great skill in 
'' taking off " the fastidious and inquisitive tour- 
ists, and in assuming certain attitudes and tones 
of the white people. 

These people are very observant, though you 
could scarcely detect them when they are making 
some of their most critical observations. A 
glance at a person and they know what he has on 
from head to foot. His complexion, facial fea- 
tures, any peculiarities about him, rings, chains, 
in short, everything about him is taken in. A 
native girl was assaulted by a white man. The 
struggle to escape him, which was successful, was 
only for a moment, yet in that moment of time, 
and though she was labouring under excitement, 
she noted him so well that there was no trouble 
in identifying him. She even described a ring he 
wore. It was the first time she had ever seen the 
man. 

They are also extremely clever in reading hu- 
man nature and very fluent in speech. They are 
never at a loss to express themselves. In prayer- 



FLUENCY OF SPEECH 101 

meetings, where they invariably take part in 
speaking and praying, they show a power of ex- 
pression that many pubhc white speakers might 
well envy. Among them are several very able 
orators in their own tongue. It is proverbial 
that a woman has a lively tongue, and this surely 
holds good with the Thlinget women. When quar- 
relling, as they do all too frequently, their flow 
of language is very surprising — and none too 
dehcate. 

They employ much imagery, and their rhetoric 
is often very flowery. Before coming to the point 
they beat about the bush, commencing their re- 
marks with some ancient history of their an- 
cestors. 

In their homes and among themselves they have 
a habit of all talking at the same time; and yet 
they seem to be able not to confuse one another 
and able to distinguish what each has said. We 
have heard six or more, all labouring under ex- 
citement and jabbering away, and yet each had 
a clear knowledge of what all the others said. 

They are not bloodthirsty, nor is treachery a 
pronounced trait. It is true that they have se- 
cretly killed white people, but not from treachery, 
but from their inexorable law of life for life. And 
it matters not whose life it is, so it be one of the 
race of the one who took a life from them. 

While gratitude is not a marked trait of this 
people, yet many of them are possessed with this 
grace. We have evidences of this in the posses- 
sion of some of their handiwork which gratitude 
prompted them to give us. Baskets, silver spoons, 
rings, beadwork, small totem poles, curios of one 
kind and another, and even a solid gold watch 
worth forty-five dollars have been given the au- 



102 TRAITS 

tlior as a token of their esteem and an expression 
of their gratitude. Their personal photographs, 
numbering more than a hundred, have also been 
given him for the same reason. 

I think oftentimes they appreciate favours done 
them, but lack the grace of expressing their ap- 
preciation. It is only just, however, to say that 
the better educated evince, and that in a very 
graceful manner, their appreciation of all favours 
done them. It must be acknowledged that there 
are those, and not a few, who show no gratitude 
whatever and seem to think any favour shown them 
is their due. But to assert, as some do, that they 
are absolutely devoid and incapable of gratitude, 
is incorrect, to say the least. The Thlinget, as has 
been showTi, is not a very demonstrative person- 
age, and this accounts to some extent for his seem- 
ing lack of gratitude. 



XI 
FOOD 

ALTHOUGH the Thlingets live in a country 
tliat has an inhospitable climate, yet the 
Creator has endowed it with a great variety 
of foodstuffs. Its waters teem with fish the year 
through, its woods with game, and its soil is pro- 
ductive of vegetables and small fruits. 

Fish constitute the principal food of the na- 
tives, as it is the most abundant and most easily 
procured of all foods in Alaska. 

While there is a variety of fish to draw from, 
yet salmon is by far the most popular and the 
most abundantly used. 

There are five varieties of this species, the 
king, silver, sock-eye, humpback and dog-salmon. 
The humpback is more largely cured by the na- 
tives for winter use than any other. As fresh 
fish, the red salmon is most largely used. 

The red and silver salmon are caught with hook 
and line or with net, while the humpback and dog- 
salmon are caught with gaff-hook or net. The 
humpback and dog-salmon are caught mostly in 
shallow streams. When caught, they are turned 
over to the women, who clean and cut them into 
slices, after removing the bones, and then hang 
them on wooden frames to be dried by the wind 
and sun. After they are thoroughly cured they 
are tied up in bundles and stored away for winter 
use. 

103 



104s FOOD 

The halibut are treated in the same way as 
the salmon, but not so largely used for curing 
purposes, as they can get them fresh the year 
round. 

The natives consider the humpback the most 
palatable of the salmon species. 

Herring, oolikan (candle-fish), and seal are also 
staple fish foods. They make but very little use 
of the other varieties of fish, such as cod, tom- 
cod, flounder, trout, bass, etc. 

The herring are caught with a rake the teeth 
of which are perpendicular rather than horizontal. 
It is a pole eight or ten feet long, the lower end 
being blade-shaped so it may cut easily through 
the water. The teeth project from the sharper 
edge of this blade in a row two or three feet long. 
While a canoe is being paddled along by one na- 
tive another uses this rake. He thrusts it down 
into the school of herring, gives it a sweep through 
the school, impaling as many as he can on the 
sharp teeth, and then draws it up and dumps his 
catch into the canoe. In a short time he can fill 
a small canoe in this manner. The herring are 
prized not so much for the meat as for their oil. 
This is boiled out of them and put into cans and 
boxes for winter use. 

Fish and seal oils are important staples of 
food. Some bear oil is used, but not to any great 
extent. The principal oils of the Thlingets are 
extracted from the herring and oolikan, the latter 
furnishing the most desirable. 

While the herring are taken almost the year 
round, the oolikan appear in the spring only, and 
then for but two or three weeks. They come into 
certain rivers in great schools, literally cramming 
them. They are scooped out of the river with a 



OOLIKAN 105 

dip-net, and dumped into a large hole in the 
ground to " mellow " (rot). It is claimed that 
the oil comes out of them better when in a state 
of putrefaction. This is not considered a de- 
traction in any way, but rather adds excellence to 
the taste, just as some highly civilized people 
prefer cheese flavoured with skippers and fowl 
mellowed with age. 

When sufficiently " ripe," the oolikan are taken 
out of the hole and put into a small canoe which 
is used as a caldron. Hot stones are thrown 
among the fish to try the oil out, and this is put 
into boxes or cans of about five gallons capacity 
and stored away for winter use. When cool it 
has about the same colour and consistency as 
butter, and is practically the butter of the people. 
They scarcely eat a meal without using oil. The 
Thlinget dips his bread, biscuit and dried fish into 
it and puts up his berries for winter use in it. 
His body is so saturated with it through use as 
to make his skin shiny and almost impervious to 
the cold. Seldom do natives freeze to death, 
though often exposed to cold that no white man 
could endure without an abundance of warm 
clothes to protect him. 

The herring are treated in a different way from 
the oolikan. While fresh they are put into large 
iron pots (in earlier times into large baskets) 
and hot stones are thrown in with them to boil the 
grease out. It is put up in the same way as that 
from the oolikan, and is of about the same colour 
and consistency as molasses, only not so sluggish 
in movement. 

The herring spawn, while it lasts — which is for 
a month or more in the spring — is eagerly sought 
and feasted on in its raw state, just as it is taken 



106 FOOD 

from the sea. Herring have particular spawning 
grounds to which they resort every spring. They 
will not spawn elsewhere. Every object in the 
water — shells, rocks, seaweed, pebbles, the ground 
at the place of spawning — is covered with their 
minute eggs, the spawn coating every object from 
a quarter of an inch to half an inch thick. The 
natives throw branches of the hemlock tree into 
the water for the spawn to catch on, and these 
are brought out of the water literally weighted 
down with the delicacy. The spawn is then ex- 
posed to the sun until cured, a process which 
colours it like gold. The spawning grounds are 
an interesting sight when the natives are curing 
these infinitesimal eggs for future use. The 
small trees look as if they had taken on their 
autumnal colours when it is nothing more than 
the sun-dried herring spawn hanging on them. 

After it is so cured, they soak it in water. This 
loosens it from the twigs, and then they throw it 
into their mouths with their fingers. 

The salmon roe is also put up in oil for winter 
use. This, like the oolikan, is allowed to mellow 
before it is mixed with oil for the winter feasting. 
The mellomng feature is a very popular one with 
the natives. Salmon heads are buried in the 
ground and left there for days until they 
become good and ripe. They are then taken 
out and, without any further cooking, devoured 
with the zest with which a hungry urchin would 
devour a piece of pumpldn pie. The odour from 
this delectable dish is so pungent that the ordi- 
nary wliite man could not possibly stand around 
while the meal is going on. The odour from the 
herring while in process of cooking, though by no 
means weak, is tame indeed as compared with that 



DELICACIES 107 

whicli emanates from the juicy, ground-baked fish 
heads. But when it comes to pungent odours, 
that of the oolikan scraps beats them all. So 
penetrating and durable is it that the holes in 
which they were mellowed years ago still send 
forth a smell which, when it strikes the nostrils, 
makes a man involuntarily reach up and compress 
his nose. No slaughter-house nor glue factory 
can turn out an odour equal to the oolikan ground. 
Most Americans who have ever had a whiff of it 
will walk miles out of their way, if need be, to 
avoid the grounds where this odoriferous little 
oolikan is treated for its oil. 

Certain portions of the snout of the humpback 
salmon, and the head and tail of the silver fish, 
are frequently eaten raw. But it is not done be- 
cause the natives are particularly fond of those 
parts. They do it because it is said that the crow, 
a long time ago, cooked these parts, and so they 
are edible just as they come out of the water. 

If you ask a native how he can endure raw fish, 
he will ask the white man how he can eat raw 
oysters or " live " cheese. Neither of these deli- 
cacies of the white man could reach the palate of 
a native. 

Hair-seal {tsa) and fur-seal {goon) are not only 
used as food, but are prized for their oil. What 
pork is to the white man, seal meat is to the native. 
In land animals, the principal meat used is 
venison. The deer abound in the Thlinget's coun- 
try, and are easily killed. Venison, as well as 
fish, is sun-dried and put up for future use, but 
not in such quantities as is fish. Porcupines, 
ground-hogs and bears are very plentiful and their 
meat is largely used. The meat of the mountain 
sheep is highly prized, but they are far more dif- 



108 FOOD 

ficult to kill than any other animal, as they browse 
on top of almost inaccessible cliffs, practically de- 
fying the hunter. Sections of country that once 
abounded with them now never see them. 

The lakes and marshes of southeastern Alaska 
fairly teem, at times, with wild fowl, such as 
geese, mallard and other ducks. The natives make 
but very little use of such, as they do not care to 
bother with picking and dressing them. 

Clams, cockles, mussels and crabs are plentiful, 
and the natives are fond of them all, especially 
of a big rock barnacle known as " gum-boot." 
They will boil out a bushel or more of cockles or 
clams at a time. Then they string them on sticks, 
or string, to be eaten as desired. They will keep 
a number of days, even in the summer, thus pre- 
pared. When we have been out with the people 
on their jaunts, we have shared with them cockles 
and clams so prepared. Any one who is fond of 
boiled clams will like them. 

Crabs and mussels are both boiled and roasted, 
and are relished either way by the natives. Both 
crabs and clams attain wonderful size. We have 
seen crabs that measured fifty-four inches from 
the tip of one leg to the tip of the other and 
weighed fifteen pounds each; and clams (called 
*' yes " in the native tongue) six or seven inches 
in diameter. 

The small-sized scuttle, or devil, fish is very 
highly prized as a food. The tentacles are fried 
or boiled. It is claimed by the natives that this 
is a very delicate morsel. 

Berries, of which there are no fewer than thirty 
varieties, form an important part of the food sup- 
plies. They grow wild and some of them in great 
abundance. Tons upon tons of the finest buckle- 



i 



BERRIES 109 

berries, high-bush cranberries, nagoon berries, 
salmonberries, and other kinds go to waste every 
season. There are four or five varieties of huckle- 
berries, two of salmonberries, two of cranberries 
and three of currants. Then there are straw- 
berries, raspberries, thimbleberries, soap-berries 
and others. 

Huckleberries, nagoon berries and cranberries 
are put up in fish oil in great quantities for win- 
ter use. 

The soap-berry is also put up, but not in oil, 
and when used it is put into a washbowl, a dish- 
pan or a large wooden chopping-bowl, and beaten 
vigorously with the open hand into a cream which 
resembles in appearance, when ready to eat, 
strawberry ice cream, only it is light as foam. 
Both men and women whip these berries with 
their hands, their sleeves rolled up to the elbows, 
the hand being buried in the succulent mess as it 
is swished around beating it into a cream. When 
one tires at the job another takes a turn at it. 
Thus they keep it up until it is ready to eat. Half 
a dozen sit around a bowl of soap-berries, each 
helping himself with a spoon as often as he likes. 

Crabapples were once largely eaten, but since 
the introduction of the white man's fruits (apples, 
oranges, peaches, etc.) they make no use of them. 

Very few of the imported fruits used by the 
white people are eaten by the natives. The apple 
is the most popular. Certain canned fruits, the 
peach, pear and apricots, are also used. Pickles, 
mustard and condiments of all kinds find no place 
in the Thlinget's diet. Even salt is rejected. 

The principal vegetables used are potatoes and 
turnips. These they raise themselves as well as 
buy them. Cabbage is eaten both raw and cooked. 



110 FOOD 

They cook a wild rice which is bulbous in its na- 
ture and taken from the ground. A popular na- 
tive vegetable which grows wild is yd-nd'dte 
(celery). This matures in May, and is gathered 
by the armload and eaten as we eat celery, only 
without salt. We have seen women and children 
with their laps full of it, eating away until the 
whole was consumed. They peal the outer skin 
off and eat the inner stem of the plant, which 
resembles the pumpkin stalk. 

Another article of diet is the white, or inner, 
bark of the young spruce tree. This is cooked 
before being eaten. They use the gum of the 
spruce tree for chewing, as well as the imported 
gum. One stick often does service for several 
members of the family. 

One of their most popular vegetables is sea- 
weed. This resembles the cabbage leaf, but is 
finer, when taken from the sea. There is much 
labour connected with curing it. It is spread in 
the sun and just before it is thoroughly dry it is 
seasoned with cockle juice or the juice of some 
other shellfish. It is then put into a five-gallon 
oil can and pressed into square cakes about an 
inch thick. To accomplish this a layer of sea- 
weed is put in and then a layer of fine hemlock. 
The twigs separate the layers of seaweed and 
give it a flavour that the natives like. The can 
is thus filled to the top and then a heavy weight 
is put on the whole to make the desired cakes. 
Every day when the sun shines it is carefully 
taken out and each layer exposed to the sun to 
harden. When the sun goes down it is carefully 
packed away again. This is repeated for a long 
time before it is properly cured; when finished 
it will retain its sweetness for months. The cakes 



WHITE MAN'S FOOD 111 

sell for fifty cents each. Sometimes it is broken 
up and cooked with oil, forming a sort of salad, 
before it is eaten. But the popular way is to 
break it off the cakes and eat it without cooking. 

The inner bark of the hemlock is treated very 
much in the same manner as seaweed, being 
pressed into cakes for future use. This is cooked 
before eating. 

Tea and coffee are popular beverages, but are 
not relished without sugar, as the natives are very 
fond of sweets. 

Flour is used, but mostly to make flapjacks with 
plenty of grease. There are few good cooks, and 
fewer who can do anything with flour in the line of 
pastry cooking. Stewing and boiling are their 
principal ways of cooking. Not many have stoves 
with ovens, and but little baking is done, nor do 
they have eggs, milk, plenty of butter and other 
things usually found in the culinary department 
of the average white woman. 

All things considered, some of them do remarka- 
bly well as cooks. We have sat down to meals 
entirely cooked and served by native women that 
would appeal to the palate of the most fastidious. 
We have sat down to banquets given by natives 
where everything was appetizing and well served. 
At some of these banquets more than two hundred 
were seated, showing that they are very capable 
when willing to exert themselves. 

The more advanced of the native women are 
good housekeepers and equal to preparing good 
meals. 

It must be remembered, however, that most of 
them are exceedingly handicapped, as they have 
not the facilities for fancy cooking that their white 
sisters have. 



XII 
EXTINCT CUSTOMS 

MANY of the customs of the Thlingets, while 
they strike the average civilized man as 
peculiar, ludicrous or cruel, are common to 
most of the uncivilized and semi-civilized tribes 
of the earth. 

In treating of these, we will divide them into 
three classes — the obsolete, those about to become 
so, and those that are yet in full sway. 

As war was a popular occupation of the nations 
during the age of Alexander the Great, so it once 
was with our native Alaskans. Indeed, at one 
time it was their chief occupation, carried on for 
spoils, for the love of excitement and for revenge. 
The warrior's accoutrements were then the most 
cherished of the Thlinget's possessions. In times 
of peace he was largely engaged in making im- 
plements of war. 

The boldest and most formidable of all the 
Thlinget tribes were the Chilkats of the north. 
The fiercest warriors of the country were the 
Hydahs. These frequently made war on the 
Thlingets. Tribute was exacted from the weaker 
tribes of the Thlingets by the stronger ones. 
Every tribe had to be in a continual state of de- 
fence and preparation for war, as they knew not 
the hour when they would be surprised by some 
hostile tribe. In some of these encounters there 
were terrible butcheries. Those who escaped the 

113 



PRISONERS OF WAR 113 

knife or club were carried off to become slaves 
of the victorious party. 

Treachery was regarded as a lawful means by 
which to entrap enemies. Surprise, cunning, 
treachery and ambush entered more into their 
warfare than open valour. Prisoners of war were 
either killed or held as slaves. There are certain 
spots in the country where prisoners of war were 
taken to be killed. Their heads were cut off and 
put in a heap. Children taken in war were not 
decapitated. The female children were killed in 
a manner too revolting to mention. 

Strong and healthy captives were reserved and 
held as slaves. Their masters had absolute power 
over them and could beat them, sell them or kill 
them as they pleased. 

Many tribes of the Aleuts, who were a meek and 
docile people, were decimated by the fierce Thlin- 
gets. The weak and abject Stick Indians were 
held in fearful terror of them. When the Thlin- 
gets entered their country they dictated the prices 
for their furs and other commodities. The fear- 
ful Sticks yielded to this dictation and were ter- 
ribly oppressed by the haughty Thlingets. 

During the Russian occupation of Alaska, the 
Thlingets attacked Russian settlements. Several 
of these attacks have gone down into history, nota- 
bly the massacre of the Russians at Sitka in June, 
1802, the attack led by the famous Katlian at Sitka 
in the early part of the nineteenth century, the 
massacre at Yakutat in 1805, and other minor 
conflicts. 

Since the American occupation there have been 
several battles between the Americans and na- 
tives. At least two of these are now recorded 
history — one which took place at Sitka on New 



114. EXTINCT CUSTOMS 

Year's day, 1869, and the otlier at Wrangell on 
Christmas night, 1869. 

The last great stroke of war between tribes of 
the Thlingets was delivered in 1851. It was a 
fearful massacre of the Stickeens, or Wrangell- 
ites, planned and executed by the great Kok-won- 
tons of Sitka. The Wrangellites, some time be- 
fore, had perpetrated a similar massacre on the 
Sitkans, and the Kok-won-tons struck back in 
revenge. 

The Wrangellites were lured to Sitka. Under 
the guise of hospitality a great dance was given 
in their honour. While in the heat of the dance, 
and handicapped with their dancing costumes on, 
they were fallen upon and all put to death with 
knife and club. It was a frightful slaughter, and 
one that no Thlinget can ever forget. 

Since then there have been no tribal wars. 
There have been some insignificant feuds and 
family quarrels, but nothing that would merit the 
name of war. Strictly speaking, none of their kill- 
ings would merit the name of war, for they made 
no declarations of war, sent out no challenges, nor 
did they line up in battle. All of their attacks were 
planned in secrecy and executed in strategy. 
Their supreme concern was to take their enemies 
by surprise and at a disadvantage. 

Their fights with the Russians were not without 
justification. They were oppressed, insulted, mal- 
treated and debauched by these foreigners. They 
were fairly driven to avenge the wrongs which 
these ingrates had inflicted upon them. They were 
peaceably inclined and showed themselves friendly 
toward the intruders until they saw with what a 
set of cruel, avaricious and immoral adventurers 
they had to deal. Then they showed that they did 



JEALOUS FEUDS 115 

not lack the spirit to avenge their wrongs and de- 
fend themselves. As their Caucasian enemies had 
superior weapons of warfare, in order to gain an 
advantage they had to resort to strategy and 
surprise. 

Sometimes tribal jealousies brought on con- 
flicts. The tribe defeated in a dancing contest be- 
came jealous of the victorious tribe. Slurs and 
insults followed until a fight was precipitated. 
Sometimes a dozen or more would fall before the 
feud was settled. The killing proceeded until 
those who had fallen on one side were equal in 
rank to those who had fallen on the other. When 
they were dancing and potlatching, if one side 
made one song more than the other it would cause 
a quarrel which usually ended in a bloody en- 
counter. Frequently on these occasions the most 
innocent remarks were misconstrued, and then 
trouble followed. At Kluckwan a chief has in his 
possession a large basket known as the Mother- 
of-baskets and a dish (in reality a wooden trough) 
known as the Worm-dish. The former stands 
nearly three feet high from the floor and is about 
two and one-half feet in diameter, while the latter 
is about thirteen feet long, two feet wide and a 
foot and one-half deep. This dish is carved out 
of a solid log and resembles an immense wood- 
worm. These two receptacles have been used from 
time immemorial for eating contests. They are 
filled with food, and whichever side eats the con- 
tents first wins the contest. 

Some years ago a tribe of the Wrangellites had 
a contest with a tribe of the Chilkats, the former 
using the Worm-dish and the latter the Mother-of- 
baskets. On tliis occasion the former tribe won. 
This incensed the other tribe, and a bloody fight 



116 EXTINCT CUSTOMS 

followed. Several on both sides fell before the 
fray was ended. These feuds could hardly be 
dignified by the name of war. They were mere 
outbursts of passion engendered by jealousy. We 
hear no more now of this petty kind of warfare. 

Until they came into possession of firearms, the 
war implements of the Thlingets were very crude. 
Spears, bow and arrows, knives, clubs and stone 
axes constituted their weapons of warfare. They 
could make very little headway with these against 
the muskets and cannon of the white men. 

But the battle-flag of the Thlinget has long been 
furled and the throb of his war-drum unheard. 
May the one never be unfurled and the other never 
heard again. 

Slavery is another of their obsolete customs. It 
has not been so many years ago since this ob- 
tained with all of its revolting cruelties. It was 
at the bottom of most of their wars, as they were 
conducted chiefly to obtain slaves. There are liv- 
ing to-day not a few who were once held as slaves, 
and some of them are comparatively young. They 
and their children are still looked down upon by 
those who had the good fortune never to come 
within the grasp of slavery. 

*' A full third of the large population of this 
coast are slaves of the most helpless and abject 
description.'^ So writes Bancroft in his ** His- 
tory of Alaska." 

Wliile free men and women captured in war 
were made slaves, many were born into bondage. 
Slaves were also captured from other tribes. 
None but the high-caste, however, were allowed 
to hold slaves, and the chiefs were, as a matter 
of course, the largest slave-holders. 

These wretched men and women were the con- 



TREATMENT OF SLAVES 117 

stant victims of cruelty. They were compelled to 
do all kinds of menial work, such as getting wood, 
making fires, packing dead game, providing fish, 
carrying water, paddling canoes and, in short, 
every species of drudgery. 

The slave was compelled not only to wait on his 
master, but on every member of his master's 
household. Women slaves did every hand's turn 
for their master's daughter. The master was 
supposed not to carry so much as a paddle. His 
slave had to do this. 

Knowing that their lives were in their master's 
hands, they were abjectly submissive to every 
command and exceedingly careful to give their 
lord no offence. There were several events which 
demanded the sacrifice of slaves, and no one could 
tell when these events would take place. The 
erection of a house, the death of the owner, the 
death of any member of his household, an unusual 
feast, some occurrence to give shame to the 
owner, the mere gratification of his vanity, de- 
manded the sacrifice of slaves. 

When a chief died, just as he was expiring sev- 
eral slaves were sacrificed near the door of his 
house. A chief was drowned in the treacherous 
waters of the Taku river. His body was not 
recovered, but at the spot where he was drowned 
two of his slaves were put to death and their 
bodies thrown into the river. 

We have seen in the village of Kluckwan a house 
where a slave was put into each foundation hole 
of its corners for the posts to rest upon. We were 
told that this was done to insure a good founda- 
tion. When a member of any chief's family was 
tattooed, or had an earlobe pierced for rings, the 
event was so important that a slave was sacri- 



118 EXTINCT CUSTOMS 

ficed. If a high-caste man was given any great 
shame, he would sacrifice a slave or two to wipe 
out the shame. This showed how rich and im- 
portant he was. 

The grandfather of one of our educated young 
men was a very high-caste man of the Chilkats. 
He lived at Kluckwan, a renowned old Indian vil- 
lage. His male slaves lived in a house on one side 
of his and his female slaves in another on the 
other side. When he died a number of them were 
butchered and their bodies thrown into the river. 

Another middle-aged man has told us that he 
was an eye-witness to the killing of a beautiful 
girl slave. After the killing, he saw them put a 
rope around her neck and then tow her lifeless 
body out from the shore. When a sufficient dis- 
tance from the shore the rope was cut and her 
body sank, a prey to the fishes. 

The dead bodies of slaves were always thrown 
into the bay, sea or river. They were never ac- 
corded the honour of burning or burial. Ignominy 
was their lot in death as well as in life. 

Slaves were frequently manumitted. Several 
events were the occasions of these manumissions. 
When a slave dressed his master for the dance in 
the heirlooms of his tribe he was set free. Some- 
times through mere vanity of the owner they were 
given their liberty. The master would then be 
talked of as a great man. 

The writer knew one man who had such love for 
his daughter that when she gave birth to a son 
he was so happy that he set free a valuable slave. 

So while the poor slave was in constant fear 
that he might be killed any day, there was also 
hope that he might be given his liberty. This 
hope, doubtless, kept him from utter despair, and 



CREMATION 119 

led him to be cautious and servile when, without 
it, in desperation he might have defied his master 
and even killed him. 

Slavery, we are happy to say, no longer exists 
among the Thlingets. It was blotted out, not as 
the black man's was, with the musket and sword 
and at the cost of many precious lives, but by the 
gentle and peaceable means of the Gospel. 

At one time cremation was the universal way 
of disposing of the dead, except of the bodies 
of slaves, which were thrown into the water, and 
the remains of shamans, which were embalmed 
and deposited in deadhouses. The universal cus- 
tom now is to bury the dead. 

When bodies were cremated the ashes were care- 
fully gathered and placed in a box, and the box 
was then deposited in a deadhouse. Hundreds of 
these little deadhouses may yet be seen through- 
out Alaska. Deposited with the box of ashes were 
many possessions of the deceased, such as cloth- 
ing, blankets, tools, food, water and other things. 
These were for his use in the spirit-land. 

According to the belief of the natives, burning 
the dead assured the spirit of the deceased a warm 
and comfortable place in the spirit-land. As na- 
tives are seldom uncomfortable from heat in this 
life, but often suffer from the cold, they dread 
the cold far more than they do the heat. Hence 
a seat near the fire is the seat of honour and 
pleasure. In the future life their concern is to 
avoid the cold and to procure a seat near the fire. 
If burned, the spirits of the other world detect 
it, and, seeing that the dead has been used to the 
fire, give him a seat where he may be comfortable. 

The chief objection against native cremation of 
the dead was their barbarous incantations about 



120 EXTINCT CUSTOMS 

the funeral pyre. But we slioiild remember tliat 
this was an expression of their grief. No people 
in the world have keener angnish over the loss of 
loved ones than the natives of Alaska. We have 
heard wailings from them that would melt the 
hardest heart to tears. 

While there may be one or more cases of exist- 
ing polygamy to-day, yet it may be truly said that, 
as a custom, it is a thing of the past. If indulged 
in at all it is in violation of the public sentiment 
and life of to-day. In former years it was com- 
monly practised. All early writers about the na- 
tives bear testimony to the fact, and the testimony 
of the natives corroborates the statements of the 
historians. Since it is no longer countenanced, 
we feel justified in classing it as obsolete, though 
a case now and then may be found. 

The cruel toughening process is now a thing of 
the past. In the winter time, in the extreme cold 
weather, men and boys w^ould go down to the 
beach and, naked, jump into the ice-cold water. 
After floundering around in the water, they would 
jump out and roll in the snow. They would then 
switch their nude bodies, or have some one do it 
for them, until the blood would all but break 
through the skin. Children, who would naturally 
shrink from this cruel treatment, were compelled 
to endure it. Youngsters were treated in this way 
to teach them endurance and make them brave. 

It was often practised by their elders from a 
spirit of vanity. One who was with us for eight 
years as interpreter, used to tell us how his uncle 
(he was an orphan) compelled him when a mere 
child to suffer this cruel treatment. The author 
has seen youth and young men, with a pair of 
drawers as their only garment, go into the woods, 



INFANTICIDE 121 

wading through two or three feet of snow, and 
bring out a load of wood on their bare backs. 
This they did to show what they could endure. 

We no longer hear of their submitting them- 
selves or their children to this cruel treatment. 
It was done, of course, from a good motive, but 
with mistaken judgment. If they had great 
powers of endurance, then when necessity re- 
quired it they would not suffer so much as if they 
had no such powers. And in those times they 
never knew what they would be called upon to 
endure. 

Infanticide is another of their cruel practices 
which has fallen into oblivion. A male child has 
always been a welcome addition to the Thlinget 
household. But not so a female. In earlier times, 
when they came too fast, their little lives were 
strangled. Twins, also, as they were looked upon 
as an evil omen, were disposed of. 

While there may be yet isolated cases of in- 
fanticide before birth and with children born out 
of wedlock, yet as a custom it has passed away. 
When prevalent no one raised his hand against it. 
Public opinion was not opposed to it. To-day it is. 

The common method of putting little ones to 
death was to stuff their mouths with moss or 
grass. This was done by women, generally rela- 
tives of the mother. Babes were usually carried 
to the woods to be put to death. 

Tattooing the body was another of their cruel 
customs which has succumbed to the enlightened 
principles of truth. Totemic designs were worked 
in the body and native dyes poured into the punc- 
tures and abrasions of the skin. It was a mark 
of great endurance to submit to this process. 

Tattooing was done more from vanity than any- 



122 EXTINCT CUSTOMS 

thing else. It gratified tlieir love of adornment 
and their boast of endurance. The Thlinget who 
could not endure bodily pain and suffering without 
flinching and without a groan was despised. 

Gambling, a vice which is still prevalent with 
the white people, and one which had a tremendous 
hold on the natives some years ago, is now a back 
number. This used to absorb most of their time 
and most of their means. In some instances they 
gambled away their wives and even themselves. 
When the latter was done they became the slave 
of the one who won. More than once the writer 
has seen circles of native gamblers seated on the 
beach in the open, gambling for the stakes shining 
within the ring. It was curious to hear their 
weird singing and see them beating with sticks 
at the same time on a pole running horizontally 
between the players. This was done to divert the 
attention of the players on the opposite side while 
the gambling peg was dexterously thrust under 
the moss in the ring. 

Was it the Wolf, the Bear, the Salmon, the Keet, 
the Eagle, the Crow, etc., which was slipped under 
the moss? This was the problem. All eyes had 
been eagerly watching, but who can tell I After 
some deliberation the fatal guess was made. If 
correct, the side of the winning party sent up a 
shout of victory that was heard throughout the 
village. If the one guessing failed, then there was 
high glee for the opposite side. 

The native gambling pegs were about five 
inches long and three-eighths of an inch in diam- 
eter. They were of uniform size, highly polished, 
and each was marked differently. There were 
usually seventy-two in a pack. These pegs were 
fine specimens of native art. They were all hand- 



GAMBLING PEGS 123 

made and yet as true and perfect as if turned by 
a machine. Each was prettily decorated with na- 
tive colours, and each was named, taking, as a 
rule, the name of some animal. The trump, or 
leading, stick of the pack was called nawk (devil 
fish). The player would skilfully conceal this im- 
portant stick with two or three others in a bunch 
of shredded cedar bark or moss. Two of these 
bunches would be thrust in front of the opponent, 
when he would be required to guess in which bunch 
was the nawk stick. If he guessed correctly a 
count was given in his favour and it became his 
turn to shuffle. If he failed he had another trial, 
and so on up to a certain number of failures. 
Usually the tenth failure lost him the game, but 
sometimes it would run to as high as eighteen. 

Then, again, the party guessing would name 
what sticks were in the bunch of moss. The ones 
he named correctly would count so much in his 
favour. 

This game was at one time the most popular of 
gambling games with the natives. 

Another similar game was played with two prin- 
cipal sticks, which, were short enough to be con- 
cealed in the hand, and a number of plain sticks. 
One of the tw^o principal sticks was carved while 
the other was perfectly plain. The players were 
divided into two parties, or opposite sides, but 
only one player on each side was allowed to handle 
the sticks. This he did very rapidly when the 
leader opposite called: ^' Hands out! " He then 
endeavoured to guess w^hich hand held the carved 
stick called nagon. If he guessed correctly his 
side took one of the plain sticks, known as a 
counter; if otherwise, his side lost one. The side 
that succeeded in getting all of the other side's 



IM 



EXTINCT CUSTOMS 



counters first won the game and took the stakes. 
Other games of lesser interest were played, but 
were not so popular as the above-mentioned 
games. In fact, the passion for gambling, which 
once burned so fiercely in the native's breast, was 
completely subdued by the influence of the Gospel. 
The gambling habit has long since passed away 
and the old gambling devices are seldom seen. 



•I 



xin 

WANING CUSTOMS 

WE pass from the obsolete customs to those 
which still exist but are waning. Witch- 
craft, that so long has held terrible sway 
over the natives, is one of these, but will be treated 
in another connection. 

All were once completely under the spell of this 
wretched superstition. All sickness and death 
was attributed to it. Witch-doctors are now few 
as compared with the number that once thrived, 
and these are largely discredited. The white man's 
doctor is now consulted and the native sick are 
treated in our hospitals. We believe that witch- 
craft will soon be altogether a thing of the past. 

The old marriage system of the Thlingets is 
giving way to the Christian marriage ceremony, 
but not a few are yet living together according to 
the old system. 

Marriages are brought about among the natives 
in more ways than one. Sometimes a youth or 
young man chooses a girl or woman for himself, 
frequently scheming relatives determine the 
match ; sometimes marriages are arranged accord- 
ing to the request of the dying, sometimes the 
levirate custom regulates them, and occasionally 
headstrong youth defy all customs and marry as 
they will. Girls seldom have any choice in their 
own marriage, but act in obedience to the dictates 
of their relatives and the rules of the people. 

125 



126 WANING CUSTOMS 

Often they do not see the men who are designed 
to become their husbands until they are wedded 
to them. There is no such thing as courtship. If 
a young girl received the attentions of a young 
man as our girls do, it would shock the natives 
beyond measure, and would be considered a terri- 
ble disgrace. Every girl is carefully watched and 
restrained from making any approaches to 
men. Their law of modesty requires that no 
girl shall speak to a man, not even to her own 
brother. 

When a young man makes his own selection of 
a girl or woman for a wife, he makes known his 
desire to his mother, or to a maternal aunt if he 
has no mother, or perhaps to his sister. He does 
not approach his sister directly but through her 
husband. There are no old maids among the na- 
tives, nor do widows long remain such. It is con- 
sidered a disgrace for a girl to remain many 
months without being married after she becomes 
a woman. Rarely do they wait at all. So sisters 
of age usually have husbands, and tlieir brothers 
use these husbands as mediums of approach when 
they wish any favour from their sisters who have 
attained womanhood. 

Having made known his desire to any one of 
these close relatives, that relative reveals the fact 
to the other close relatives. If they approve of 
Ms choice, they interview the girl's people to get 
their consent. The girl is not consulted at all. 
If they are high-caste people there is a great deal 
of palavering about it before it comes to an issue. 
The youth's relatives (and only those of his 
mother's totem are considered such, his father 
and his father's people having nothing to do with 
it) set forth as strongly as they know how his 



THE DOWRY IST 

many good qualities, accomplisliments, and liis an- 
cestral line. 

If the girl's people (those of her mother's 
totem) regard the proposal of the young man's 
relatives favourably, they in turn set forth her 
noble qualities, and accomplishments, and an- 
cestral line, as strongly as they can; and before 
the palaver is over they tell what they think they 
ought to have as a dowry. If all are agreed, then 
the young man is brought, together with the pres- 
ents that are to be made, to the girl's home. He 
and the girl then, through the mutual understand- 
ing of their recognized relatives, become husband 
and wife. The presents are given not in the sense 
of a purchase of the girl, but as the binding fea- 
ture of the contract. This is to make the union 
solid, and generally is very effective, especially 
on the girl's side; for if she proves unfaithful 
or should run away from her husband, her people 
must pay back to his people what they gave as 
a dowry, or its equivalent. This inclines them to 
encourage and advise the girl to be faithful and 
to stand by her husband. 

If a man casts off his wife, he is not held ac- 
countable. The wife goes to her people and little 
or nothing is done about it. It is considered such 
a disgrace for a wife to be cast off by a husband 
that she will endure the most brutal treatment, 
and sometimes even death itself, before she will 
leave him. 

If the girl's relatives do not approve of her 
marrying the young man who desires her as a 
wife, his relatives are so informed. Whether they 
carry the day or not depends upon the determina- 
tion of the girl's people. But usually their refusal 
settles it.- 



128 WANING CUSTOMS 

The greatest barriers to marriages are differ- 
ences in caste and intriguing relatives. No 
Thlinget parent wants Ms son or daughter to 
marry one of a lower caste, nor do relatives ap- 
prove of it. They oppose this with all of their 
energy, and such opposition frequently stands in 
the way of a man who wishes to marry a girl. 
Eelatives who have planned to marry the girl to 
some one else also block many a man's matri- 
monial ambition. 

The relatives of the girl are very desirous, as 
a rule, to marry her to some one on the father's 
side of the family. It may be an uncle, a cousin, 
or a grandfather. The same principle holds true 
with the relatives of the young man, who seek to 
marry him to some girl or woman who is a near 
relative of his on the father's side. It may be 
his cousin, or aunt, or grandmother. Such mar- 
riages are not only considered very proper among 
the natives, but they more heartily desire them 
than marriages of any other connection. In choos- 
ing a husband for a girl, relatives consider the 
young man's accomplishments and his family con- 
nections. The man's relatives, in choosing for 
him, prefer a girl or woman who is modest, in- 
dustrious and has some accomplishments as a 
basket-maker, bead-worker, seamstress and house- 
keeper. 

A dying wife sometimes requests that her hus- 
band marry a certain girl or woman after she is 
gone. The motive prompting such a request is 
usually the desire to keep her personal effects 
within her own family, the native custom being 
for the relatives of the survivor to appropriate all 
of the deceased's belongings, whether husband or 
wife. 



LEVIRATE MARRIAGES 129 

A dying request of this nature is very highly 
respected and is usually carried out. In one case 
that came under our notice, a wife died from con- 
sumption. Before her death she mentioned a 
young girl whom she wanted her husband to take 
as his wife after she was dead. Though the girl 
lived more than a hundred miles away, and the 
husband knew very little about her, yet the dying 
request of the wife was carried out to the letter. 

The levirate custom regulates many marriages ; 
that is, when a brother dies some one of his sur- 
viving brothers must take his widow to wife. If 
the deceased left no brother, then the next closest 
relative of his must make the widow his wife. On 
the other hand, if the wife dies, then a sister of the 
deceased, or a close relative, must be given to the 
surviving husband for a wife. The widow has the 
right of selection from any of her deceased hus- 
band's relatives and the surviving husband has 
the same right with the relatives of his deceased 
wife. 

It will be seen that this form of marriage among 
the Thlingets corresponds precisely with that of 
the ancient Hebrews. It is also interesting to 
note that there is a correspondence in other re- 
spects between the marriage customs of the two 
peoples ; for example, in the dowry, the choice of 
husband and wife by parents, etc. 

It is very common for the nephew of the de- 
ceased husband to take his widow to wife, the 
nephew being considered the nearest relation to 
a man next to his brother. Also for the niece of 
the deceased wife to marry the widower, as the 
niece is the nearest relative of a woman next to 
her sister. 

In levirate marriages no presents are passed 



ISO WANING CUSTOMS 

from the man 's people to the people of the woman 
he takes to wife, for this is only making good his 
loss. 

The surviving husband has the right even to 
select a married sister of his deceased wife. If 
this is done, she must leave her husband and be- 
come the widower's wife. Or the widow has the 
right to select even a married brother of her de- 
ceased husband. And if this is done, the husband 
must leave his wife and children and become the 
widow's husband. The writer is acquainted with 
more cases than one of this kind. A man in our 
community was suddenly killed. His widow se- 
lected one of his married brothers who at the time 
was living at Sitka. He promptly left his wife 
and children and came to live with his brother's 
wife, and they are now living happily together. 
If a brother should refuse to take to wife his de- 
ceased brother's widow he would be disgraced 
among his people. 

If the brother selected by a widow is an old 
man, a boy is also given to her to be her husband 
when the old man dies. This system makes some 
very peculiar matches. We see old men married 
to girls yet in their teens, and old, wrinkled-faced 
women married to mere boys. 

Little need be said about those who take mar- 
riage into their own hands in defiance of all cus- 
tom. They simply elect to live together and do 
so, facing the scorn of their people. 

Child marriages are by no means uncommon. 
Boys and girls are mated by their relatives, and 
infants and mere children are sometimes prom- 
ised in marriage. 

But few marriages are love-matches, but cases 
of pure love are not altogether wanting. We 



i 



LOVE-MATCHES 131 

knew of a young man who worked for a girl's 
parents for years, like Jacob for Rachel, for the 
girl he loved. He would kill deer, provide fish, 
hunt seal, get wood, and do anything he could for 
her parents for the promise that he could have 
her at a certain time. The girl loved him. The 
parents wanted her to marry another man, an 
older and uglier fellow. She absolutely refused 
to have him, threatening to be bad if she could not 
have the man she wanted. The parents yielded 
on condition that the youth of her choice work 
for them for a period. This was done, and at the 
end of the time the youth took his wife. 

The natives have a different standard of beauty 
from that of the white people. Beauty, indeed, 
cuts little figure with them. The qualities that 
count in a girl are caste, then ability to sew or 
weave, and then modesty, which leads her to stay 
at home and never to speak or look at a man. 
To test a girl's modesty when she came from her 
little coop of confinement, some one would shout, 
'' Fire! Fire! " If she paid no attention to the 
cry and looked toward the ground, it was con- 
sidered that she was modest and that she would 
make a desirable wife. 

A rule which is still in full force, the violation 
of which means deep disgrace to the violator and 
in earlier times was punished with death, is that 
a man must marry a woman outside of his own 
totem or totemic pliratry. 

As soon as the obsequies for the deceased are 
over a feast follows. During the progress of the 
feast members of the tribe of the deceased ask 
the widow which of their tribe she will take for 
a new husband. The one whom she mentions be- 
comes her husband. 



132 WANING CUSTOMS 

Another rule closely observed is that no girl 
shall in any wise propose marriage to a man. If 
she did she would be held in everlasting disgrace. 
Nor can any young man approach a girl on the 
subject. As we have already said, relatives ar- 
range matrimonial matters. 

In former years men and women commonly took 
each other on trial. If, after having lived to- 
gether for some weeks or months, they found that 
they liked each other and were satisfied to live to- 
gether permanently, then, by a mutual understand- 
ing, they became husband and wife for good. Only 
a few years ago we found a man and woman living 
together in this style. When asked if they were 
married, he said no, but that they were just living 
together with the view of marrying providing 
they liked each other. We did not hesitate to tell 
them that they were not living right according to 
the white man's standard of morality. 

The old custom of Thlinget marriage is, as we 
have said, waning, and to-day the Christian mar- 
riage ceremony is largely invoked. The author 
has performed the Christian ceremony for scores 
of them. 

Many white men have taken native women for 
wives and in most instances have married them 
according to law. Some of these marriages have 
been very happy, while others have been anything 
but happy. Half-breed children are very common 
in Alaska, many being legitimate. 

Not a few are now holding on to the property 
when either the husband or the wife dies. In 
nearly every instance, however, they have to fight 
for it, as the relatives of the deceased claim it. 
The writer has more than once been called upon 
to protect property rights for the widow or the 



CONFINING AT WOMANHOOD 133 

widower. It works great hardship on poor na- 
tives when widows and orphaned children are 
stripped entirely of their worldly effects and then 
thrown on the cold charity of relatives. Some- 
times they fare all right, but frequently they 
suffer from this species of spoliation. 

For high-caste natives, especially for chiefs, the 
erection of totem poles was at one time a common 
custom. Occasionally one is erected in this day, 
but this will soon be reckoned as one of the cus- 
toms of the past. 

One of the most curious waning customs is that 
of confining girls when approaching womanhood 
in some cramped, coop-like place. Usually this 
little jail is built by the house with a hole for 
entrance made in the side of the house. It is very 
primitive in nature, made out of rough slabs or 
even of boughs. In one family known to the 
writer, girls were confined in a pit under the floor 
of the house, which was entered by a trapdoor. 
All light is excluded except what may find its way 
through cracks and through the door when opened. 
In these little dungeons, not high enough for them 
to stand in nor long enough for them to stretch 
out in, girls are confined anywhere from four 
months to one year. Wlien they come out they 
are fairly bleached, and the great wonder is that 
they ever live to come out at all. The places 
are usually dirty and dank, without light and 
ventilation, and their inmates are deprived of all 
means of exercise and fed on a very limited diet. 
Happily this custom, while yet largely observed, 
has not the universal sway that it once had, and 
not a few native girls who come to womanhood 
to-day are strangers to this ordeal. 

This practice advertises to the community that 



134 WANING CUSTOMS 

the girl so confined is of marriageable age and will 
soon be ready for matrimonial orders. Indeed, 
she is not long out of her little pen before she is 
a bride. In most cases she is spoken for before 
she leaves her solitary confinement, and she steps 
out of her little prison only to step into matri- 
mony. The Thlingets may not go all the way with 
Josh Billings who says, " Marry early and often," 
but they do go at least half-way with him ; for they 
believe in early marriages. For them, I am in- 
clined to think that this is good policy. Their 
young people settle down, and their girls have a 
protector before they go astray and fall down. 



XIV 

PRESENT-DAY CUSTOMS 

THE feast is by far the most popular of all 
customs, and the one to which they cling 
most tenaciously. It will probably be the 
last to pass away. 

The " potlatch " (the Chinook term for free 
gift) and the common, almost perennial, feast of 
the natives are two different affairs. There is 
a feast held in connection with the potlatch, but 
its prime feature is the giving away hundreds of 
dollars worth of goods by some man who wishes 
to establish a name for himself among the people. 

But potlatches are few as compared with the 
total number of feasts. They are held to honour 
the dead, to benefit the dead, to pay off obligations, 
to wipe out stains on one's reputation, in com- 
memoration of the dead, for self and family glori- 
fication, for sociability. So desirous of feasting 
are they that sometimes they welcome a death, as 
it affords them an excuse to observe this favourite 
custom. Where the sick have been expected to die 
and then have recovered, natives have been known 
to be greatly disappointed and to regret the re- 
covery, as the feast they anticipated in case of 
death did not come off. For this reason some 
are not urgent in employing a doctor when rela- 
tives are sick. 

A feast must be held whenever a Thlinget dies, 
whether man, woman or child. It cannot be 

135 



136 PRESENT-DAY CUSTOMS 

omitted, as it would be regarded as a woeful lack 
of respect to the dead and would bring severe re- 
proach on the family. 

Besides honouring the dead, the festival has a 
superstitious significance. It is believed that in 
some way it actually benefits the dead. For this 
reason, while the feasting is in progress food is 
thrown into the fire, and the name of the dead in 
whose honour the feast is held is called out. The 
fire-spirit in some way conveys the food to him in 
the spirit-land. If the feast were omitted, or a 
poor feast given, the spirit of the dead would feel 
badly about it and reproach relatives so remiss in 
their duty. If a good feast is given, then the souls 
abiding in the sj^irit-land will treat the departed 
one with all due respect, as they observe how he 
is regarded by his people left behind. 

At this feast all obligations incurred in the cre- 
mation or burial of the dead are met and extrava- 
gantly paid for. The higher the rank or caste of 
the deceased, the more is paid for every service. 
The natives are not satisfied unless much money 
is spent, but everything done for the dead is by 
those of another totem than that of the deceased. 
The slightest service must be well paid for, and 
anything given must be returned in value several 
fold. These are obligations which no Thlinget 
would think of disregarding, as he would be put 
to everlasting shame. 

The size and expense of the feast depends alto- 
gether upon the standing and family connections 
of the deceased. If one of importance and a high 
caste dies, nothing short of a great feast will do. 
Every member of the tribe of the deceased con- 
tributes what he can toward it, and there is no 
giving grudgingly, but cheerfully. 



COMMEMORATIVE FEASTS 137 

The guests of the feast must be those of a dif- 
ferent totem from that of the ones giving the 
feast. Members of the totem belonging to those 
giving the feast may attend and look on, but they 
cannot receive anything. 

A feast is usually held immediately after the 
death of a person, but not always. Death may 
occur when it is inconvenient for the friends of 
the deceased to give one at once. They may be 
too poor, or it may be in the summer time when 
the people are scattered. But as soon as the rela- 
tives of the dead can accumulate the means and 
the people are back in the village, then the cele- 
bration in honour of the memory of the dead must 
be given. 

Frequently a light feast is given by the fam- 
ily right after the obsequies, and in due time a 
big one follows. 

After a period of two or more years another 
feast may be given in honour of the same person. 
This is the commemorative feast, and to all in- 
tents and purposes is the same as the other. 

As soon as convenient after the burial (or cre- 
mation) of the body a grave fence (formerly a 
deadhouse) is erected. This event calls for a 
feast, given primarily to pay off those who had 
any hand in erecting it. In course of time a suita- 
ble monument is set up in memory of the dead. 
This again calls for a feast, at which those who 
assisted in setting it up are paid for their services. 

The completion of certain masks used by chiefs 
in dancing, the building of a canoe, the erection 
of a totem, and of a house, calls for a feast, the 
primary purpose being to pay those who did the 
work. 

These items are tribal property, and all tribal 



138 PRESENT-DAY CUSTOMS 

property must be made, built or erected by those 
of another tribe than the one owning them. 

This is the process of Thlinget settlement. 
They are perfectly satisfied with this method, 
though they must wait months or even years be- 
fore a feast can be given and a settlement ef- 
fected. While they do not keep books, yet every 
one remembers accurately what is due him until 
he has been paid, no matter how long the settle- 
ment is put off. The women, especially, keep tab 
on every one under any obligations to their 
families. 

It often happens that when a man completes 
his house he has no money with which to make 
a feast and meet his obligations. His creditors 
are content to wait until such time as he can 
give it. 

This system has made them poor debtors so 
far as the white man is concerned. To delay to 
pay an honest debt to the white man seems noth- 
ing to them. The truth is that too many of them 
are unscrupulous in this respect, and will not pay 
their debts to a wMte man if they can get out of 
it. They cannot very well shirk this duty among 
themselves, as every debtor is hounded until he 
or his tribe pays. 

The events which call for feasting for self and 
family glorification are the erection of totem 
poles, piercing the ears and nose for rings, nam- 
ing a child, tattooing the person, and when a girl 
becomes a woman. The feast for any of these 
occasions proclaims to the community the high 
standing of the one giving it and his family. So 
the Thlinget aristocrats have their way of pub- 
lishing to the world their social status as well as 
those of Gotham. 



OTHER FEASTS 139 

Feasts are sometimes given to whitewash a dis- 
reputable character. If a man has disgraced him- 
self in the eyes of his people, he may give a gen- 
erous feast, and no one after that is allowed to 
mention or talk about his dishonourable conduct. 
Giving a feast wipes out the stain, and the sinner 
may hold his head as high as ever, knowing that 
he is not talked about as he was before he gave 
the feast, as that put a quietus on gossip. 

In the settlement of all feuds, insults, serious 
quarrels and the cutting of a child, feasts must be 
given. When a child has been cut the parents 
believe the scar does not look so bad as it would 
if no feast had been given. This is a wonderful 
balm to the wounded sensibilities of the Thlinget. 

The death of a chief, shaman or very high-caste 
man calls for a very large and expensive feast. 
It is attended by men, women and children. Gen- 
erally the room in which it is held is one solid 
mass of humanity. In some feasts they squat on 
the floor in family groups. There is one large 
bowl to the group, generally a wash-bowl, which 
may hold anything in the nature of liquid food, a 
stew, or boiled meats, or fish. All in the group 
help themselves from this common bowl with a 
spoon or fingers. Food like pilot bread, crackers, 
apples, etc., is dumped on a cloth on the floor or 
held in the lap. The head of the family circle 
takes with her to the feast a flour sack or pillow 
slip. After all have eaten what they can they 
put what is left into this sack and carry it home. 
Such is the generosity at these feasts that the 
guests cannot begin to consume all the food that 
is distributed. Liquid food, such as oils and ber- 
ries in oil, they carry home in their bowls or 
kettles. 



140 PRESENT-DAY CUSTOMS 

In some feasts tlie people are seated in di- 
visions. This is especially true when dancing is 
held in connection with them. During their prog- 
ress, in many instances, speech-making is indulged 
in and there is much merriment. On these oc- 
casions legends are rehearsed and exploits re- 
counted. By the time a Thlinget becomes a man 
he has heard the legends of his people over and 
over again. 

Fasting may precede feasting — not to enable 
them to eat more, but to bring good luck to all 
who partake of the feast. The Thlinget 's super- 
stition leads him to believe that there are many 
things he can do which will insure him good luck. 
Many white people are not far behind him in 
this. 

It is a common practice for them to say one 
thing and mean another. The Thlingets are ex- 
perts in handling innuendo, and no less so in per- 
ceiving the hit that is conveyed in the same. In 
truth they are a little too sensitive at times, taking 
offence where none is intended. This has fre- 
quently been the case in religious services con- 
ducted by missionaries. On one occasion a lame 
native got up in the midst of a service and left 
the church, offended because the preacher read 
in the Bible about the '' lame and the halt." He 
said it was calling attention to his infirmity and 
he resented it. 

The potlatch is given primarily for self-glori- 
fication. The man who gives one receives honour 
and public esteem for himself and his family in 
proportion to the amount he gives away. He is 
the most renowned wlio has given the greatest or 
the greatest number of potlatches. A man who 
is ambitious to give a potlatch mil save and stint 



AMOUNT GIVEN AWAY 141 

for years, even to the extent of denying himself 
and family the necessities of life, that he may give 
as big a one as possible. The members of his 
family contribute their quota and endure the pri- 
vations it entails. From two to five thousand dol- 
lars worth of goods are sometimes given away in 
a single potlatch. Men absolutely impoverish 
themselves and families, but their poverty is pa- 
tiently endured for the name that has been estab- 
lished. Henceforth the man is an honoured mem- 
ber of the community, however low he was before 
he gave the potlatch. He and his will be given 
a seat of honour in all public functions and a 
liberal share of what is distributed in every feast 
to which they are invited. 

Feasting and dancing are important features of 
the event and are never omitted. 

Invitations to attend a potlatch are sent by 
special messengers long before the aifair is to 
come off ; sometimes the people know of it months 
or even years before it takes place. Men, women 
and children attend, as at all their feasts. Invita- 
tions are sent to the people of distant villages and 
to those of a different phratry from the one to 
which the man giving the potlatch belongs. Those 
of the great man's totem may attend, but they 
cannot receive any of the gifts that are dis- 
tributed. The wife of any man or the husband of 
any woman who is of the same totem as the one 
giving the potlatch may and does receive gifts, 
as the totem is different from that of the native 
philanthropist. 

When the important day comes, the village is a 
whirl of intense excitement. The honoured guests, 
two hundred or more in number, are sighted as 
they approach in their canoes. Flags wave from 



142 PRESENT-DAY CUSTOMS 

the prow and stern of every canoe and on the 
shore. Before a canoe of the happy fleet touches 
the strand, they are drawn up in peaceful array 
to hear words of welcome from the great chief. 
After the response from the spokesman of the in- 
coming guests, they all draw to the shore and their 
hospitable friends receive them to their homes. 

For the next week or ten days things are mov- 
ing in this village. Every day and night feasting 
and dancing engage and thrill the merry-makers. 
The great tribal heirlooms are brought out and 
totemic emblems are profusely displayed on 
paraphernalia of every description. Faces are 
painted with stripes betokening the totem of the 
individual wearing them. Now we see a Crow, 
now an Eagle, now a Bear, now a Frog. What 
gorgeous costumes some wear! What ludicrous 
ones have others ! Here comes a bear ! But no ; 
it is only a man in a bear's skin. Look at that 
mammoth crow ! But it is not a real crow. It is 
only a man under a great mask to represent the 
doleful bird. The dull, monotonous beat of the 
drum is frequently heard — the only object resem- 
bling a musical instrument used in the potlatch; 
doleful as it is, it excites the natives who hear it. 
The communal house where the great potlatch is 
given is thronged and is the scene of varied ac- 
tivities. The dancers take their places, and after 
an appointed spokesman has made some appro- 
priate remarks, dancing begins. After this set 
has danced an hour or more, a fresh set from 
another tribe takes the floor. Feasting is inter- 
spersed and the distribution of the goods to be 
given away is made. Great bundles of blankets, 
prints, muslin and edibles of various kinds are 
given out. While many of the blankets are given 



PERIOD OF TIME COVERED 143 

away whole, others are torn into quarters and 
these fractions are bestowed. The prints and 
bolts of muslin are given out by the yard, the 
edibles in quantity. Every man receives accord- 
ing to his social standing. While the dancing is 
in progress various songs peculiar to the tribe of 
the one giving the potlatch are sung, or, more 
correctly speaking, chanted. 

The period covered in giving a potlatch varies 
according to the amount of goods which have been 
accumulated to be given away. It may be from 
one to six days. It often happens, however, that 
several are ready to give potlatches in succession, 
and so they run along without a break for two or 
three weeks. 

The potlatch is conducted according to well- 
defined rules laid doAvn by custom, and no de- 
parture from these rules is tolerated. 

Dancing. — While dancing is usually held in con- 
nection with feasting and potlatching, yet we need 
to distinguish it from these. Feasts are often held 
without dancing and dancing without feasting. 

The native dance is very different from the 
white man's. It is practically a charade, an imi- 
tation, or representation, of the chief character- 
istics of some totemic animal, as the bear, crow 
or whale. 

There are several different dances and each is 
known by its own name, and has its own particular 
features. Among the more important ones are 
the War Dance, the Peace Dance, the Ptarmigan 
Dance, the Tsimpshean Dance and the Stick 
Dance. 

The dancers are divided into bands, each from 
some distinctive tribe. Only one band dances at 
a time, and when they have played their part they 



lU PRESENT-DAY CUSTOMS 

give way to one from another tribe. They dance 
in rivalry and frequently engender envy, jeal- 
ousy, contention and strife. Each side watches 
carefully its opponents and notices and remem- 
bers the slightest mistake made while dancing, 
or any remark which they can construe as a slur. 
Anything which can be considered a reflection on 
dancing or persons is eagerly seized upon and 
made the basis of a quarrel. 

While dancing, the participants stand close to- 
gether and scarcely move out of their tracks. 
They are surrounded, as a rule, by a large body of 
spectators, who confine them in a positive area. 
The dancing really consists of rhythmic move- 
ments of the hands, arms, head and entire body 
above the waist. To the white spectator, some of 
these motions are extremely ludicrous and 
laughter-provoking ; but to the native it is serious 
business and he wears a sober countenance 
through it all. Time is measured by the beat of 
the drum — now soft, now loud, now slow and now 
rapid, and by the incessant chant of females from 
start to finish. All movements are in harmony 
with the time thus measured. 

The dance is highly spectacular and dramatic. 
Striking and singular costumes are worn, some 
of which are highly valued. Tribal heirlooms in 
the way of wooden hats, masks, ear-drops, head- 
gear, robes, batons, etc., which have been handed 
down from generation to generation, are much 
in evidence. The i^articipants are men, women 
and children. Their faces are streaked with paint, 
red or black, rings are in their noses and ear- 
drops in their ears. Some of the leading actors 
wear headpieces mth flexible projections six or 
eight inches long sticking out of the top. These 



BIG DANCE AT ANGOON 145 

prongs are filled between with eagle's down, and 
every once in awhile during the dance the proud 
wearer of this peculiar headgear gives his head a 
terrific shake, sending the down flying through 
the air like a snowstorm. Thus, all tricked out 
in their various trappings and finery, they dance 
to their hearts' content. One dance often occu- 
pies hours. 

The writer has witnessed a number of native 
dances. The largest, most spectacular and most 
significant of these was at a place called Angoon, 
a village belonging to the famous Hootz-na-hoos. 
On this occasion bands from the Hootz-na-hoos 
and from some of the leading tribes of Sitka per- 
formed. The dance, which was held in connection 
with a big potlatch, took several days, and the 
Sitka bands walked off with the honours and with 
a cargo of the spoils from the potlatch. The star 
dancer of the Sitkans, however, lost her heart to 
one of the young lords of the Hootz-na-hoos and 
she became his wife. So the Hootz-na-hoos had 
at least some compensation for their lavish enter- 
tainment of the Sitkans. This big dance was car- 
ried through in a harmonious spirit, and was such 
as no white man will probably ever look upon 
again. 

Other minor prevalent customs require only 
brief reference. 

The absurd custom of brothers and sisters (as 
soon as the latter attain to womanhood), the 
mother-in-law and son-in-law, males and females 
of the same totem, refraining from speaking to 
each other, still finds favour with many. The 
writer has known sisters who, on their return to 
Alaska, after being away to school in the States, 
could not get their uneducated brothers to speak 



146 PRESENT-DAY CUSTOMS 

to them. A nephew, who had been educated in 
one of our schools, made repeated etTorts to get 
his aunt to speak to him while on a long journey, 
but failed. The untutored aunt would not con- 
descend to speak to her nephew, as it was con- 
trary to her notions of womanly modesty and 
ethics. It is considered improper for a brother 
and sister to sit in the same room if no others 
are there. A brother refused to enter the church 
until the arrival of others because his sister was 
the only one inside. A brother may not make a 
present to his married sister, but may to her hus- 
band. It is considered highly improper for a 
brother to give his married sister anything. 

The Thlingets would sooner sustain great per- 
sonal loss than face the opprobrium which would 
be heaped upon them for the violation of any 
popular custom. Public scorn is the most dreaded 
thing imaginable to them. And nothing invites it 
like the violation of their customs. 



XV 

THE DISPOSITION OF THE DEAD 

NO event with the Thlingets involves so much 
as death. It sets many curious customs in 
motion, all being dependent on the rank and 
class of the deceased. If a chief, great lamenta- 
tion is heard from the entire tribe. As soon as 
he expires messengers are sent all over the coun- 
try to announce his death to his tribal relations. 
No matter how far away they may be at the time, 
no dis|lf)sition is made of the body until they ar- 
rive. It lies in state, clothed in the very best of 
garments. The most costly blankets and robes of 
his tribe are brought out, wrapped around and 
thro^vn over him. The old tribal heirlooms are 
placed on top of his coffin. His weapons of war- 
fare, the instruments he used in hunting, and 
house-totems are placed beside him. In the days 
of cremation his totemic marks were painted in 
red on his face. These things reveal to any who 
enter the house the high standing and connections 
of the man in life. 

The body properly placed in state, the widow 
takes her place on the floor beside the body, not 
to leave the spot until the remains are removed 
for burial. Her robe is a coarse blanket, a token 
of bereavement. Most of the time she lies 
hunched up, and as silent as the corpse beside 
her. Her hair is shorn and her face painted black 
all over, in token of mourning. Hired mourners 

147 



148 THE DISPOSITION OF THE DEAD 

take their places also beside tlie remains. All 
mourners must be of an ox)posite tribe from that 
of the deceased. 

These particulars properly carried out, atten- 
tion is turned toward collecting things for the 
great feast which must follow. The first step 
toward this is to collect all the money possible 
from the members of the dead man's tribe. All 
are loyal in giving and no trouble is had in raising 
the money needed for the feast. It would be great 
shame to one not to give. The stigma would cling 
to him for a long time. 

Boxes of pilot bread, apples, canned goods and 
other foods are purchased, and to these are added 
home food products such as dried fish, fish oil and 
various kinds of berries preserved in fish oil. 

While the food is being collected for the feast 
by some, others are busy digging the grave which, 
in the case of the burial of a chief, must be lined 
with suitable lumber. 

As soon as the distant relatives of the deceased 
arrive, the officiating missionary is sent for, if a 
Christian service is to be held in the home. Fre- 
quently funeral services are held in the church. 
The ceremony over at the home or the church, 
hired pallbearers convey the casket to the hearse 
or to the burial ground. In these days a band of 
music often plays dirges and funeral marches as 
the procession moves along. Women have gath- 
ered up all the articles intended to be buried 
with the body, and taken them to the grave. The 
brief ceremony there being over, the mourners 
sit with their backs to the grave and give vent to 
real or assumed grief. 

Often the whole ceremony is delayed for the 
men to enlarge the grave to accommodate the 



DRESSING THE DYING FOR BURIAL 149 

coffin or while tliey make the box for it. The 
grave-diggers are so averse to throwing one 
shovelful of earth more than is absolutely neces- 
sary that the hole is usually too small for the 
coffin and the grave must be enlarged. 

Articles of clothing and bedding (and if for a 
child, playthings), and always a vessel of water, 
are iDuried beside the coffin. Sewing-machines, 
clocks, guns and various other articles such as 
were used and prized in life are often deposited 
on the grave. 

The funeral over, the guests repair to the house 
where the all-important feast is to be given. This 
has a threefold purpose : to honour the memory of 
the dead, to feed his spirit as it travels to the 
spirit-land and to pay off all who have any claim 
on the family of the deceased for any services 
rendered in their bereavement. 

As the dying must be dressed for burial before 
life has departed from the body, all who assisted 
in that put in a claim. The natives think it is 
terrible if the dying are not dressed for the tomb 
before life leaves the body. This is to avoid touch- 
ing the dead, of which they have a superstitious 
fear. We have seen men with their burial clothes 
on two or three days before death. It does not 
disturb the mind of a dying native thus to dress 
him, or even to bring his coffin into his presence 
before he passes away. In fact most of them 
prefer to see these things before they die. They 
have no fear of death, and most of them face it 
as calmly as if lying down to sleep. 

All who contributed anything, and the pall- 
bearers, coffin-box builders, grave-diggers, etc., 
must be liberally remunerated. 

By the time the various claims and the other 



150 THE DISPOSITION OF THE DEAD 

expenses have been met two or three hundred 
dollars have been swallowed up, but every penny 
of this is cheerfully paid, as it would be a deep 
disgrace to refuse any of these claims. But the 
expenses connected with the dead do not end here. 
As soon as possible a grave fence and a tombstone 
must be erected. These must be as good as money 
can buy. Often expensive monuments are bought. 
They must be conveyed to the burial ground and 
set up by those of an opposite tribe from that of 
the dead. This requires a feast when those who 
erected them are paid. 

The disposition of the bodies of those not so 
high in rank as chiefs, and of the common people 
other than slaves (whose bodies were cast into 
the sea), is similar to that of chiefs, only not so 
imposing and expensive. But no matter how poor 
a family, they strain every point to give their dead 
expensive burial. 

In the days of cremation, the ashes, and the 
bones of the dead not completely burned, were 
carefully collected, put into a sack made of cloth, 
and the sack deposited in a box which was kept 
in the family deadhouse. The bones of each were 
distinguished from the others by the colour of the 
sacks. 

The Thlingets are especially fond of giving 
feasts for the dead. They will even exhume bodies 
and bones to bury them in some other spot in 
order to have an excuse for such feasting. In 
one instance two relatives had a serious quarrel 
as to which one should have the privilege of taking 
the bones of a deceased relative from a deadhouse 
to bury them. One of them became so angered 
that he took the bones and scattered them in the 
bushes. The members of an opposite totem had 



PECULIAR CUSTOMS AT BURIAL 151 

to be hired to collect them, and they were finally 
buried with great pomp. 

Feasts are frequently given in commemoration 
of the dead. A son will do this for his deceased 
mother, a brother for a brother, or a nephew for an 
uncle. It may be in honour of one who has been 
dead a number of years. 

In the days of cremation, and even later, dead 
bodies were never taken through the door, but 
through a hole made in the side of the house and 
then closed up so that the spirit of the deceased 
could not find its way back into the house. Or the 
body was taken through the aperture in the roof 
and a dog taken along with it. If the dog were 
not taken they believed that some one of the 
family would surely die, but if the spirit of the 
deceased entered the dog it would not return to 
the injury of any member of the household. 

With an occasional exception in the case of chil- 
dren, the dead are never buried from the house 
in which they die, but are taken to some other 
house belonging to one of the same tribe. 

From the moment of death until the body is dis- 
posed of, some one must remain with the corpse 
day and night and a light must burn every night. 
This is to guard against the intrusion of spirits. 
The Greek church custom of burning candles 
about the dead appeals strongly to this phase of 
their superstition and conforms to their practice. 

Down to the present generation embalming was 
practised. Mummies have been found in Alaska, 
some of which may now be seen in the Smith- 
sonian Institute. The universal custom now is 
to bury the dead, and they usually hold a solemn 
funeral service. But more than once we have had 
the hour set for the service and when we went 



152 THE DISPOSITION OF THE DEAD 

to hold it have found that they had already gone 
to the cemetery. They became impatient to get 
to feasting, and so went without notice to the of- 
ficiating minister. 

Deadhouses are small houses about six by eight 
by eight. Most bodies are buried in the com- 
munity burial ground, or the remains of the de- 
ceased are left to repose in a deadhouse within the 
common deadhouse plot. Occasionally one pre- 
fers to bury his relative in some isolated spot, and 
small islands are selected for this purpose. The 
bodies of medicine-men are always placed on some 
high and almost inaccessible promontory. Many 
a shaman's deadhouse may be seen from the deck 
of steamers, standing like some grim sentinel 
fifty, or a hundred, or even two hundred feet 
above the water. In many instances the canoe of 
the departed doctor may be seen beside the dead- 
house rotting in conjunction with the bones of its 
owner. 

Sometimes the ashes and bones of the dead were 
deposited in hollow mortuary poles. A number 
of these poles may yet be seen in the country, al- 
though the custom of erecting them is now prac- 
tically a thing of the past. 

Widows painted their faces black as a sign of 
mourning. If a widow's face was streaked from 
flowing tears, people pitied her, as they believed 
she truly missed her husband. But if no such 
streaks were visible they disliked her and talked 
about her, believing that she did not care for her 
husband. Sometimes the living shaved their heads 
as a sign of mourning, and widows cut their hair. 

Songs were introduced at burials to let those 
in attendance know something of the history of 
the dead and his family connections. 



SIGNS OF MOURNING 153 

This was in earlier times, however, and is not 
practised now. As Christian burial has sup- 
planted cremation, and as Christian rites are 
largely employed in the final disposition of the 
body. Christian songs are sung at their funerals. 
Those in attendance at funerals are always very 
reverential. But those employed to carry the cof- 
fin, place it in the tomb, etc., do not do it with that 
nice delicacy that white people do. Oftentimes 
they build and nail up the box that contains the 
coffin after the funeral procession has arrived at 
the grave and the bereaved, as well as others in 
attendance, are compelled to listen to the pound- 
ing and sawing until it is completed. 

But, they are making progress, and doubtless 
some day they will be more considerate and 
careful. 



XVI 

SHAMANISM AND SUPERSTITIONS 

THE part that superstition has played, and 
still plays, in human affairs is by no means 
small. It is a child of ignorance and thrives 
best in the barbarous mind, and yet enlightened 
people are not altogether free from it. 

Belief in witchcraft has ever been the dominant 
superstition of uncivilized people, and no other 
superstition has been so prolific of cruelty among 
men. 

While it does not hold the sway over the na- 
tives of Alaska that it did some years ago, and 
while some have thro^vn it off altogether, yet it is 
still potent with the mass of the people. Dis- 
eases, especially those of a lingering and wasting 
nature, like consumption, are regarded as the work 
of malevolent witches. 

In former years all sickness and death were at- 
tributed to them. This being the case, the only 
remedy they could think of was to expel the evil 
spirit that possessed the sick and was doing the 
mischief. They must either do that or locate and 
kill the witch. This was regarded as a sacred 
duty. 

For this purpose there were professional men 
among them known as ikt, in their tongue, and 
called in the English language, medicine-men, In- 
dian doctors and shamans, the last term having 
been borrowed from the Russians. They were 

154 



THE OFFICE OF SHAMAN 155 

never very numerous, usually not more than one 
or two to a community. Some communities had 
none. The friends of the sick in such villages 
sent abroad for the ikt when needed. 

Like our own physicians, some had the reputa- 
tion of being more skilful in their art than others, 
and these enjoyed a larger practice than their less 
favoured brethren. 

The office of shaman may be inherited, like the 
ancient priesthood, but not necessarily so. As a 
rule, one must be consecrated to the office from 
infancy, and no comb, scissors or water must ever 
touch his hair. The longer and more matted the 
hair the greater the power the doctor is supposed 
to possess. For this reason the hair of an ikt was 
jealously guarded. If shorn of it his power van- 
ished, and he was no longer consulted as a doctor. 

The total neglect of the hair was not the only 
habit peculiar to this profession. They spent long 
periods in the forest in absolute solitude, sup- 
posedly in communication with evil spirits. They 
also had periods of fasting, and their diet dif- 
fered in many respects from that of others. They 
ate the bark of devilclub and portions of bodies 
of the dead. They also procured and held in the 
mouth the finger of a dead ikt. Just before they 
engaged in exorcising evil spirits from the sick, 
or in determining who was the witch, they drank 
native red paint. They always kept the box con- 
taining their paraphernalia on top of the house. 
A hot fire was required when performing about 
the sick, and they began the ceremony in perfect 
nudity. As they warmed to their work, a girdle 
composed of bones, claw-nails and talons was put 
about their loins, then a necklace of such about 
their necks, and last of all they were given rattles 



156 SHAMANISM AND SUPERSTITIONS 

especially made for their use. It was firmly be- 
lieved that the evil spirits could not be conjured 
with any other objects than the drum and the 
rattle. 

As the natives felt that good spirits would never 
harm them, their chief concern was to propitiate 
the evil ones so they would not. 

In case the sick recovered, no witch was hunted. 
On the other hand, if the patient grew worse and 
showed signs of dying, then the wily doctor evaded 
responsibility by asserting that a witch was hin- 
dering his work and must be found and killed. 
For the service of locating the witch, he had to 
be paid a much larger fee than for merely making 
one well. 

The one settled on as the witch was generally 
some unimportant member of the community, an 
uncanny-looking creature, a slave, or some one 
who had the ill will of the doctor or the relatives 
of the patient. This was a very effective way of 
ridding one of his enemy. 

No one, not even the victim himself, thought of 
disputing the shaman's judgment. Whom he 
designated as the witch was believed by all to be 
such, and was immediately treated as such. A 
near relative of the mtch usually took the ini- 
tiative in the punishment. 

The victim was first reviled, reproached, bru- 
tally and shamefully treated, and subsequently put 
to death. No punishment was considered too cruel 
for a witch, and various means were devised for 
their torture. They were tied to stakes before the 
rising tide, and to stakes in the forests for wolves 
to devour; they were made to die from starva- 
tion, with food almost within their reach; their 
limbs were tied to their bodies and then they were 




TOTEM POLE 



CASES OF WITCHCRAFT 157 

thrown naked on a bed of thorns. In short, all 
kinds of exquisite tortures were applied to the 
miserable wretches. 

After the witch was left to die, no one would 
dare approach him, or in any way offer relief. 
The curse of the community would be on the head 
of the one who did. 

If a witch had the good fortune to escape death, 
he was shunned by all, and no matter how much he 
might be in need of assistance, no one would help 
him. The case of a poor old blind man comes to 
mind. In his earlier days he had been tied up 
as a witch, but was rescued from his horrible con- 
dition by some white men. To keep him from 
starving, after he became practically helpless, the 
white people living about him supported him 
through charity. No native would do anything for 
him because he had once been declared a witch 
by their infallible ikt. 

It would be almost impossible to exaggerate 
the native's terror of witches. It is for this rea- 
son rather than for hardness of heart or delight in 
human sufferings, that they torture them. They 
deem nothing too cruel for them because they hold 
them responsible for all human sufferings and 
death itself. 

Any one who accuses another of being a witch 
runs the risk of losing his life at the hands of the 
accused, or his relatives, for it is deemed such a 
terrible charge. Even venerated shamans have 
been killed for this. 

A young girl was tied up and after severe 
torture was compelled to admit that she had made 
witch-medicine. She was then compelled to dive 
down and bury the concoction in the bed of the 
river, the natives believing that if this is done the 



158 SHAMANISM AND SUPERSTITIONS 

bewitched will get well. The girl claimed that a 
certain man taught her to make the fearful medi- 
cine. She is now a woman about thirty-five years 
of age and well known in Alaska. 

A boy of a lively and mischievous nature was 
condemned as a witch. He was spirited away and 
left to starve in a garret, but the missionary of 
the place, hearing of the lad's misfortune, res- 
cued him, and sent him to the mission-training 
school at Sitka. He is there yet and is a youth of 
promise. This institution has been the refuge of 
more than one native child who was condemned to 
die as a witch. 

Witch-medicine is composed of several ingredi- 
ents, such as hair and finger parings of the dead, 
herbs, and the tongues of birds, frogs and mice. 
If a native is seen loitering around a native burial 
ground, he is suspected of being after materials 
for witch-medicine. 

Some, charged with being witches, take a kind 
of pride in admitting it. They not only glory in 
making others believe that they have such de- 
moniacal powers, but do it in order to make others 
fear them. 

When witchcraft was in its flower, the ikt was 
superstitiously regarded as an all-powerful being. 
His word was absolute, and he was revered as a 
god. All kinds of superstitions were held in con- 
nection with him. Fetishes were made of his 
things. When natives passed his deadhouse in 
their canoes they threw tobacco or food, such as 
he had liked in life, into the water to propitiate 
his spirit, and even prayed to his spirit for a safe 
journey and success in their hunting ventures. It 
was also thought disrespectful to pass the spot 
afar off as if afraid of it. Yet on land no native 



m 



THE IKT'S BURIAL PLACE 159 

would venture near the deadliouse of an ikt. All 
berries growing in the neighbourhood of the grue- 
some tomb were superstitiously eschewed, as it 
was the universal belief that those who ate such 
berries would surely die. They were regarded as 
belonging to the yak (spirit) of the dead doctor. 

A shaman was never cremated. His body was 
embalmed, then wrapped in a mat made of basket 
material, tied securely and then placed in the dead- 
house. Things that he owned and prized in life 
were deposited with him. No matter how costly, 
they were never in any danger of being stolen, 
for the tomb of a shaman was regarded as espe- 
cially sacred. No tomb, however, was ever in dan- 
ger of being rifled by a native. 

When he failed to cure the sick, it was generally 
believed that he had been too familiar with some 
woman, and for this reason his all-powerful yak 
had forsaken him. 

When eating halibut, no one would pass in front 
of his door if he knew it. Some one was stationed 
in front of his door when his highness was thus 
engaged, and any one about to pass was warned 
and directed to pass around the back of the house. 

The ikt was considered not only to be in league 
and to have influence with evil spirits, but to be 
a prophet. As such he was often consulted as to 
weather, the proper time to start on the hunt, 
whether a certain venture would meet with suc- 
cess or failure and about other things. He would 
predict epidemics, deaths and other catastrophes. 
He was considered also to have the gift of tongues. 
It was believed, for instance, that a Thlinget 
shaman could speak the Tsimpshean tongue when 
the Tsimpshean spirit came upon him, but not 
otherwise. 



160 SHAMANISM AND SUPERSTITIONS 

They were very jealous of one another, discred- 
iting one another, and doing what they could to 
break down each other's reputation. When jeal- 
ous, it was said that their spirits were fighting 
one another. 

When in the full swing of his performance, the' 
iht makes such a hideous noise that no spirit, how- 
ever malignant, is considered to be bold enough 
to remain in a patient's body. In appearance 
he is the most diabolical and repulsive-look- 
ing of all creatures, and it is scarcely to be 
wondered at that he fills others with awe and 
fear. 

In this connection we submit an excellent pen 
picture of one in action, taken from the realistic 
novel of Mrs. Eugene S. Willard, '' Kindashon's 
Wife." 

'' Three parts of the great house are filled with 
people — men, women and children, sitting and 
standing, densely massed. On the fourth side, 
opposite the door, with head toward the wall, lies 
the body of the sick chief; at either end of this 
long space hang the rewards, and between them 
is the dancing ground of the doctor, who now sits, 
limply, near the sick man's feet, with the rattle in 
his hand. 

^'- He has closed his eyes, and now he begins to 
breathe more heavily and irregularly — the drum 
is but touched as by his breath. 

" Presently the breathing itself assumes a form 
of sound; there is a mutter — a rumble, gradually 
gaining the punctuation of a chant, weird and wild 
as the cries of a lost soul. 

" Now the eyes roll — the sight turns inward, 
then out again, throwing light lurid as from hell. 
The muscles begin to twitch, the limbs to jerk, the 



PERFORMANCE OF THE IKT 161 

body to rock and sway as if moved by infernal 
machinery. 

" The sight becomes fixed as held by awful 
power — the breath comes in snorts — the chant 
grows louder — the drums beat quick and low; 
every muscle freezes tense — the air is palpitating 
with the powers of the unseen world. 

" There is a crouching of the visible champion. 
And now with the cry and spring of a panther 
he is at the side of the mangled, prostrate form — ■ 
the chant is now a shriek ; the drum-beats indicate 
the close and awful contact of the opposing forces, 
the rattle is held aloft and shaken with ferocious 
vehemence. Now he retreats, crouches, springs 
clear over the body — wilder and wilder grow the 
singing and the drum — he writhes as in torment — 
he shrieks and moans and beats his own body — he 
leaps into the air with uplifted arms and a blood- 
curdling yell — there! he has fallen and relapsed 
into his first position. The sounds have fallen — 
muffled, also. There is a clutching — a clawing at 
the invisible — a hissing, with lips compressed, 
with jaws set; the spitting of a wildcat, the snap 
and snarl of a maddened dog. 

*' Palsy seizes the whole frame of the creature, 
with muscles drawn to tenseness like iron and 
moved with irresistible power, till, foaming at the 
mouth, the eyes rolling as in horrible agony, he 
falls under the Y)Ower of the spirits he has dared 
to encounter. Two men spring forward and take 
him in their grasp, trying to prevent him from 
eating his own flesh. 

" He is now left to himself — for in this swoon 
are revealed to him the human agencies which are 
in league with the spirits he has assailed. Woe 
to the man, woman or child who may have crossed 



162 SHAMANISM AND SUPERSTITIONS 

this wretcli 's will at any time, or to those who are 
objects of dislike to those rich enough to pay this 
creature for condemning them ! 

" The waiting people hold their breath in si- 
lence which grows more terrible, not knowing who 
may be the victim of this consultation with the 
powers of darkness. 

*' But now the sorcerer moves, twitches and 
quivers again, and with the seeming agonies of 
a horrible death he struggles back to human life. 
Like one muttering in his sleep he speaks — every 
ear is strained to catch the words which come 
gurgling from that world of horrors and of mys- 
tery : 

" ' The spirit of the great chief must pass be- 
fore us ere the setting of the sun; ' then in the 
same sepulchral tone comes the name ' Sha-hehe.' 
What else the sorcerer says and does are lost in 
the quick, sharp cry of terror from Sha-hehe, and 
the general hubbub which ensues." 

Native superstition is by no means confined to 
witchcraft. It has a wide range and is a big factor 
in his life. 

His belief in the existence of evil and malignant 
spirits is the foundation for his belief in witch- 
craft. He regards them as not only capable of 
producing disease, but of sending other calami- 
ties. They may make a heavy storm swamp his 
canoe, cause him to be drowned, to be destroyed 
by bears, triumphed over by his foes, and in other 
ways do him untold harm. 

Many things are regarded by him as evil omens. 
The birth of twins is one. In former years a 
man felt justified in leaving his wife if she pre- 



EVIL OMENS 163 

sented him with twins, and she was looked upon 
by all as something uncanny. Twins were also 
put to death. In this age they are accepted as a 
matter of course. 

A widow must not eat boiled fish lest her head 
should loosen and shake from side to side. If the 
sick suddenly finds a bug on his person, it is re- 
garded as a sign that he will surely die from that 
sickness. 

The aurora borealis is regarded as an evil omen. 
It indicates that some one will be killed. It is be- 
lieved that only people who have been killed go up 
into the sky, the common future home of spirits 
being some imaginary remote locality beyond the 
most distant mountains, and inaccessible except 
through death. Wlien, therefore, the aurora is 
seen, it is believed that those who have passed to 
the skies are dancing for joy because some one 
will be killed and join their number. In former 
years, when tribal wars were rife, it was consid- 
ered the sure sign of an approaching battle. 

Children are forbidden to throw scraps of food 
into the water, as the water-dog will get them and 
then the children will have bad luck; to pick 
up shells on the seashore will bring a terrific 
storm. 

Charms are worn to ward off evil, and certain 
things are kept to bring good luck. A woman has 
kept for years a lot of halibut bones taken from a 
halibut that was mysteriously caught by a native. 
The old woman would not part with these bones 
for anything. A red-bird is kept by a man who 
caught it while sitting on a log. He has had it 
for years, and he attributes every piece of good 
fortune to his possession of this bird. Another 
is keeping some pretty eggs that he found in a 



16* SHAMANISM AND SUPERSTITIONS 

peculiar place, and every turn of good fortune is 
at once accredited to tliese eggs. 

The tongues of birds and of mice, after having 
been dried on the top of a house, are considered 
very potent talismans. 

Many natives are firm believers in love-potions. 
These are made of the tongues of birds, frogs 
and mice, andiof herbs, and the medicine or charm 
is known as kd-gd'ne-e-thloot (tongue medicine). 

When a woman becomes infatuated with a man 
and her love is not reciprocated, or if a wife ob- 
serves that her husband's affection is cooling and 
she wishes to retain it, she resorts to the love- 
potion. This is made of the ingredients men- 
tioned above and in great secrecy. It is then 
wrapped in a piece of the loved one's necktie, or 
shirt, or some other garment, and carefully hidden 
away, the woman taking good care not to forget 
the spot where it is hidden, as it is believed if the 
place is forgotten not only will the potion lose its 
efficacy, but the woman will also lose her mind. 

If this process of winning or retaining the af- 
fections is faithfully carried out, it is firmly be- 
lieved to result in victory. The process, however, 
of compounding the ingredients in rightful pro- 
portions is known to but few. The potion may 
be bought, but is very costly. This same philter 
is sometimes resorted to to make one successful 
in the hunt, dance, witchcraft and in other affairs 
of life. 

It is believed that all animals understand hu- 
man speech. For this reason natives are careful 
what they say about them not only in their pres- 
ence, but at any time; for they have some mys- 
terious way of hearing all said about them, and 
if evil or boastful things are said, the creature 



1 



SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT DROWNING 165 

maligned is sure to take offence, and in time will 
surely harm the speaker. A young man who was 
subject to epileptic fits, while in one of them fell 
off the deck of a boat and was drowned. It was 
said that when he was a child he spoke unkindly 
to some little fishes, and this was his punishment 
for it. A young man swore at some mountain 
sheep which he was hunting because they were in 
a difficult place to reach. In his effort to reach 
them a snowslide came down and buried him and 
he perished. The natives believe that he met with 
this death because he was disrespectful to the 
sheep. 

When the grampus is seen, he is practically 
prayed to to bring them good luck. This marine 
monster feeds on seals, and is generally on the 
hunt for them. He may direct the hunter to where 
seals are, so he is graciously addressed when seen. 

Even the little oolikan are respectfully spoken 
to; if not, they are supposed to resent it, disap- 
pear and, in some way, bring trouble to those who 
have been so disrespectful. 

The crow, raven and eagle, being totemic birds, 
are never molested by those of their totem. 

It is believed that the spirit of the drowned is 
caught by the land-otter and dragged into his hole, 
and there it is turned into a '' goosh-ta-kah/' the 
native hobgoblin, or ghost of the woods. 

On account of this superstition, drowning is con- 
sidered the worst calamity that can befall one, 
especially if the body is not recovered. Conse- 
quently when a native is drowned diligent search 
is made to recover his body, heavy rewards are 
offered and searching parties formed. When 
Chief Kin-da-goosh was drowned in the Chilkat 
river the whole country was in commotion, and 



1G6 SHAMANISM AND SUPERSTITIONS 

the river was fairly covered with canoes in which 
were hundreds of natives looking for his body. 
The search was maintained until the body was 
recovered, though it took days to find it. Great 
would have been their sorrow had the body not 
been found. 

When a husband goes hunting or fishing his wife 
must not bathe, comb her hair nor look into a 
mirror, lest it bring him bad luck. 

"When a woman is pregnant, neither she nor her 
husband must eat thimbleberries or strawberries. 

There are several superstitions in connection 
with births. A babe must not be born in the house 
for fear of bringing evil upon it. When delivery 
is expected the mother moves out and occupies a 
booth of boughs, or a tent. She must not be 
touched, as she is considered unclean. 

The superstitious belief in the reality and truth 
of dreams has tremendous hold on the native mind. 
If a sick native dreams of one bewitching him, that 
one is positively regarded as a witch. If a hus- 
band dreams that his wife has been untrue to him, 
he believes that she has and gives her a sound 
whipping on the strength of it. 

A woman dreamed that she was struck in the 
chest by another woman. When she awoke there 
was a pain in her chest (which, doubtless, caused 
the dream) and she firmly believed it to be the 
result of some malignant influence over her by 
the woman of whom she dreamed. 

A white youth, with two or three natives, was 
drowned in the Chilkat river. A native dreamed 
that he appeared to him and appealed for food. 
The dreamer and his friends believed that the 
drowned were hungry and in need of food, and 
they cooked a great quantity of beans and bacon, 



PROPERTIES OF MEDICINE 167 

ate some themselves, but cast the most of it into 
the river to feed the drowned. 

In earlier days, ordeals by poison were resorted 
to in order to determine guilt. Medicines were 
relied on more for their supernatural than for 
their medicinal properties ; for their charms than 
for their curative powers. Thus a certain medi- 
cine was blown upon traps to make them success- 
ful in catching game. Others were used to reveal 
secrets, to make one rich, to make one successful 
against his enemy, to give one power to kill ani- 
mals, to make one happy, and so on almost ad 
infinitum. Love-potions were concocted and be- 
lieved to be very efficacious. The writer has been 
told that many a woman who had a violent hatred 
for a man has been won to a passionate love for 
him because he carried a love-potion to influence 
her. 

When fishing, natives talk to their halibut lines, 
hooks and floats, calling them " brother-in-law," 
" father-in-law," etc. It is believed that if they 
did not do so they would not have any good luck. 

What has now been submitted does not exhaust 
the list of Thlinget superstitions. It will serve, 
however, to show what a sway this evil principle 
has over the native life. But it is only just to say 
that many natives no longer take stock in these 
superstitions. 



XVII 

TOTEMISM 

THERE is no more interesting and intricate 
subject pertaining to the natives of Alaska 
than totemism, and none about which most 
people have such vague, indefinite and unsatis- 
factory notions. 

The reticence of the natives, their reluctance 
to talk to white people on the subject and the ab- 
sence of any written language, make it very dif- 
ficult to acquire a true and comprehensive knowl- 
edge of it. The average white man can find out 
nothing satisfactory about it by approaching them 
on the subject. The old natives who know will 
not respond, and the young ones claim to know 
nothing about it. 

The only way to get at the truth of the matter 
is to live with them and, indirectly, to draw them 
out, or let them voluntarily express themselves 
concerning it. If a white man shows much eager- 
ness to learn about their customs they will almost 
invariably, especially if they are not well ac- 
quainted with him, refuse to talk about them, or 
tell him some nonsense both to mislead him and 
that they may smile at his credulity. 

Because totem poles consist of carved images, 
some declare them to be idols. They were never 
regarded as such, so far as we have been able to 
learn, by the natives. 

An idol is an image of some imaginary deity, 

168 




CHILKAT BLANKET AND WOMAN 



CREST 169 

and is worshipped as having both being and power. 
The totem poles of the natives of Alaska, while 
bearing images of creatures, were never erected 
to represent any imaginary deity or god. Nor 
were they ever worshipped. They are highly re- 
vered because they carry the tribal emblem. 
What the coat-of-arms, or crest, is to families of 
the English aristocracy, so are totemic marks to 
native families. The Englishman reveres the 
family crest, but does not worship it ; so does the 
native with his totemic emblem. 

Some natives have misled white people by call- 
ing their totems idols when they merely meant 
they were images. The native word for totem is 
ko-ted, meaning image, or likeness. When the 
natives learned about the idols of the Bible, they 
used this same word for idol. So now it is used 
interchangeably for image or idol. As the native 
does not make the nice discrimination between the 
meaning of terms that we do, he very innocently 
says one thing when he means another. 

Some have been told by the natives that their 
people worshipped the totem poles when it was 
only meant that they have a superstitious rever- 
ence for them. 

Another thing that would give colour to the 
belief that they are worshipped is that when they 
saw the totem of a shaman, they would make a 
formal sign in its presence, the same as a member 
of the Russian church makes when he comes into 
the presence of an edifice or a priest of that faith. 
The man does not worship the edifice nor the 
priest; nor does the native worship the pole by 
so doing. 

The nearest approach to idolatry of these peo- 
ple was in attributing to birds, fish and animals 



170 TOTEMISM 

supernatural powers, and then setting up images 
of tliem. While these creatures are not regarded 
exactly as gods, yet attributes were ascribed to 
them equal to the attributes of deity. 

'^ The totem poles," says Professor Dall, in his 
admirable work, " Alaska and Its Resources," 
'' are in no sense idols. They are like pictures 
to illustrate the legend that is connected with the 
family." This view is correct. But they are not 
only like pictures to illustrate legends ; they stand 
for very much more. 

It is very important to a correct understanding 
of totemism to know the true totemic divisions of 
the people. 

All natives of either main totemic division are 
regarded as brothers and sisters though they may 
be of different sub-totems of the division. These 
cannot intermarry. They must seek partners 
somewhere in the opposite division, or fraternity. 

One of the common errors of writers on the na- 
tives is to confound subdivisions with main ones. 
Another is to use the terms ' ' tribe ' ' and ' ' clan ' ' 
interchangeably, A tribe may be divided into 
clans, but not a clan into tribes. A tribe may be 
composed of several sub-totems but of the same 
great phratry; a clan, on the other hand, is com- 
posed of people of the same totem. Every native 
has his sub-totem which, in turn, determines the 
main division to which he belongs. 

The entire native population of southeastern 
Alaska is divided, as already stated, into two great 
divisions known as the Eagle and the Crow. The 
sub-totems of the Eagle are the Bear, Wolf, 
Whale, Shark, etc., and of the Crow, the Beaver, 
Frog, Salmon, Seal, etc. Every family must both 
be of the Eagle and the Crow fraternity, the hus- 



TOTEMIC DIVISIONS 171 

band of one side and the wife of the other, or 
vice versa. If the husband's phratry is the Eagle, 
his wife's must be that of the Crow. Any one of 
the Crow line of sub-totems may cross over to the 
line of sub-totems of the Eagle division and seek 
a wife, and vice versa. But no one of the Crow 
line can take a partner in marriage from any of 
the totems of that division or phratry, even though 
they are utter strangers and no blood relation. 
That is, one of the Bear totem may not marry one 
of the Whale, as these belong to the same grand 
division. 

A valuable pamphlet by Mr. J. E. Frobese, at 
one time curator of the Sheldon Jackson Museum 
at Sitka, Alaska, gives the following interesting 
table of marriageable possibilities : 



Man's Totem 


Woman's Totem 


Eagle 


Crow 


Bear 


Beaver 


"Wolf 


Frog 


Whale 


Salmon 


Shark 


Seal 



A subject so deep and intricate merits and re- 
quires something more than a mere glimpse of 
totem poles from the deck of a steamer to qualify 
one to pass on it. Totemism is something more 
than a mere idle and meaningless whim of an ig- 
norant people. With the natives of Alaska, it is 
the foundation of their entire social structure and 
a tangible expression of their belief. Its impor- 
tance among them can scarcely be exaggerated. 
It expresses their belief in the kinship of men and 
animals, and had, doubtless, its origin in the be- 
lief of the animal ancestry of man. Those of 
the Eagle division claim to have sprung from the 



173 TOTEMISM 

eagle, those of the Crow from the crow. Because 
of their belief that animals can understand human 
speech, I have been cautioned more than once, 
while in camp with natives, and in all seriousness, 
never to speak in terms of disrespect of the bear, 
or other animal. 

The natives are Darwinians to the very letter. 
Their belief in the origin of man from animals 
is expressed not only in their verbal legends, 
but on some of their totem poles. On one this 
legend is inscribed : 

*' Years ago a number of women were in the 
woods picking berries when a chief's daughter, 
who happened to be among them, ridiculed the 
whole bear species. For this affront, a number 
of bears suddenly appeared and killed all of the 
women except the chief's daughter. The leading 
bear of the bunch made her his mfe. She bore 
him a child, half human and half bear. One day 
this child was discovered up a tree. She was mis- 
taken for a bear, but managed to make her dis- 
coverers understand that she was human. She 
was taken to their village and she became the 
ancestor of all natives belonging to the Bear 
totem." 

Mr. William Duncan, the " Apostle of Alaska," 
who speaks with authority on anything pertaining 
to the natives of Alaska, thinks that totems were 
adopted to distinguish clans. 

** It is not improbable," writes Professor Dall, 
" that the custom, or system, of totems orig- 
inated in a desire to prevent war, and to knit the 
tribes more closely together." 

After years of study of the subject and close 
observation of the working of the system, we are 
of the firm opinion that totemism had its origin 



ORIGIN OF TOTEMISM 173 

in the belief of an animal ancestry, and that the 
distinguishing of clans, the effort to prevent war, 
and the knitting of tribes more closely together 
followed as a consequence from its adoption, 
rather than suggesting it. 

Totemism not only controls marriages, but in- 
dicates the rank and caste of people. The higher 
the totem pole the greater the man who owns it. 
The people of the Hootz (brown bear) family, or 
Keet (grampus) family are considered superior 
to those of the Hot (salmon) or Chich'g (frog) 
family. In public assemblies places of honour are 
distributed according to rank (totem). In daily 
intercourse, people are treated and respected ac- 
cording to their family totem. Those of an in- 
ferior totem are very careful how they speak to 
those of a superior one. In the settlement of in- 
juries, totemism plays a very important part. 
The man of a superior totem is always awarded 
higher damages than one of an inferior crest. In 
a drunken orgy a woman had her eye gouged out. 
About the same time, another woman, in a drunken 
quarrel, had her finger so injured as to necessitate 
its amputation. The one who lost her eye, be- 
cause low-caste, or of inferior totem, was given 
only two hundred dollars damages, while the 
other, being a high-caste or of superior totem, 
was adjudged wronged to the extent of nine hun- 
dred dollars. 

Totemism governs the amount to be spent on the 
dead, what one shall receive at a feast, the para- 
phernalia he shall wear at a dance, the voice he 
shall have in public affairs, the size of his house, 
the esteem in which he is held, the naming of 
children and native hospitality. 

It serves as a fraternal means to bind them 



174 TOTEMISM 

together on the one hand, and to separate them 
on the other, and to mark friends from foes. All 
of the same great totemic division are friends 
and the home of one is practically the home of the 
other. No matter where they go, those of their 
totem kindly receive them and show them the 
warmest hospitality. Those of an opposite totem, 
while they may not be regarded as enemies, yet 
are not looked upon as friends, nor called upon 
for any favour, 

A woman of a superior totem, or caste, though 
she may live a life of shame and deepest degrada- 
tion, is respected, and were she to die, would be 
deeply mourned and have a costly burial; her 
sister of an inferior totem, though she had lived 
an immaculate life, would receive scant recogni- 
tion, and were she to die, would have few to mourn 
her death and a shabby burial. 

Totemism regulates the disposition of the dead. 
Those of the same totem as the deceased must not 
raise their hand to do a thing about the body. 
Dressing the corpse, making the coffin, carrjdng 
the remains to the grave, digging the grave and 
covering it up, or any other thing required, must 
be done by those of the opposite totem from the 
dead. 

Guests must be those of an opposite totem from 
the one giving the feast, and they are seated ac- 
cording to caste, or totem. 

Totemism proclaims to the world who are the 
occupants of a house, and denotes lineage, the 
children taking their mother's totem. It regu- 
lates what disposition to make of the property 
of the dead. It promotes hospitality and sociabil- 
ity, and is a spur to ambition and thrift. Many 
a man has laboured and saved in order to erect 



THINGS TOTEMISM GOVERNS 175 

a costly totem pole, or to give a big feast, or to 
throw some glory on his family crest. 

Totemism binds them together for mutual help 
and protection. Every member of a man's totem 
is ready to contribute of his means and strength 
to help his friend in time of need. The combined 
crests of either grand totemic division stand 
ready, if necessary, to meet the liabilities of any 
one belonging to their side of the great Thlinget 
family. 

Totemism is recorded history, genealogy, 
legend, memorial, commemoration and art. 

The totem pole is but one of the many expres- 
sions of totemism. Everything the native pos- 
sesses, in many instances even his person, carries 
totemic designs. He does not make a common 
halibut hook, or a paddle, a spoon, a bracelet, or 
scarcely any other object, without etching his 
totem on it. Why? Because everything he uses 
is associated with his patron friend and protector, 
be it eagle, crow, bear or wolf. If he puts the 
image of his patron on his halibut hook, it will 
help him to have good success; on his paddle, to 
go safely over the deep; on his spoon, to protect 
him from poisonous foods ; on his house, to bless 
liis family. 

These family crests are represented not only on 
poles, but on the fronts of houses, on the interior 
walls, on the prows of canoes and practically all 
articles used by the natives. 

All handiwork in wood, stone, bone, horn, cop- 
per, gold and silver bears totemic designs. So 
with moccasins, baskets and blankets. In this age 
even marble tombstones are ordered' to bear the 
same. In the burial grounds of natives may now 
be seen marble monuments (white man totem) 



176 TOTEMISM 

with the salmon, the grampus and other totemic 
figures chiselled on them. Not a few natives have 
tattooed on their person their totemic patron. 

There is no object in the Northland of greater 
attraction to the tourist, and none which awakens 
so much speculation, as the totem pole. When a 
steamer lands at a native village, about the first 
thing the tourists ask to see are the totem poles. 
Of these there are four classes — the genealogical, 
historical (or commemorative), legendary and 
memorial (or mortuary). 

The genealogical pole is usually erected directly 
in front of its owner's house and, as the name 
indicates, gives the genealogy of the family 
within. The wife's totem crowns the top, next 
the husband's and so on do^\^l. Any native walk- 
ing along and seeing the pole can tell at a glance 
the clan of the mother, which is the ruling one 
of the house. From this he mil know whether or 
not he would be welcome to enter and stay there. 
If the ruling family of the house is not of his 
totem he passes on. As he reads on down the 
pole, he learns the totemic connections of the 
entire household. 

The historic or commemorative pole, as the term 
implies, recounts some special and important 
event (as regarded by the owner of the pole) in 
the history of the particular family or the 
chieftain of the house. Usually such events as 
thrilling conflicts with man and beast and cour- 
ageous triumphs are chronicled on these monu- 
ments for the consideration of future generations. 

The legendary pole, as the tenn indicates, re- 
lates some happy legend particularly prized by 
the clan of the one who has erected it. Not only 
are there legends, but songs, that are peculiar to 



TOTEM POLE WORKMANSHIP 177 

each clan, and tlie members or votaries of one 
clan are not allowed to use the legends and songs 
of the others. 

The memorial or mortuary pole, as may be in- 
ferred from the term, is a monument erected in the 
burial-ground to the memory of the dead. It usu- 
ally carries the single image of the patron animal 
of the deceased. When cremation was the uni- 
versal custom of disposing of the dead, cavities 
were made in the back of the mortuary tablets 
in which to deposit the ashes of the deceased. 

As soon as burial became the general custom 
the totem pole began to decline, and to-day there 
are practically no totem pole builders and no new 
ones are erected. 

Totem poles vary in height from a few feet to 
fifty or more. They are usually very costly, not 
because of their intrinsic, but for their senti- 
mental, value. In some instances they are valued 
at three or four thousand dollars each. They are 
carved out of a solid tree trunk (usually yellow 
cedar), and by tools of the native's own make, 
a rude adz being the principal one used. While 
some are crude in workmanship and hideous in 
appearance, others are beautifully artistic and 
pleasing to look upon, showing the workman to be 
of no mean ability as a carver. Some native vil- 
lages abound in totem poles, while others have 
but few, and some none. 

The march of civilization is fast supplanting 
this as well as many other old-time customs of 
the natives. The totems now standing are in 
process of rapid decay, being not only covered 
' with moss, but having spruce trees growing out 
of some, thus marking their age. 

At Klinquan are great slab foundations of an- 



178 TOTEMISM 

cient mammoth communal houses. On the por- 
tions of these slabs visible to the eye may be seen 
wonderful totemic carvings, showing that in olden 
times even the very foundations of their houses 
carried the crest of clan or family, wrought there 
at great pains and expense. Any museum could 
get valuable relics from this field. 

A number of houses are yet seen with the totem 
of the owner painted or carved on the front gable. 
The house with a crest thus represented on it is 
called after the totem it bears. If of the crow 
it is ^' Yalkth-hit " (Crow-house) ; of the bear, it 
is " Hoots-hit " (BroAvn bear-house) ; of the orca, 
or grampus, '' Keet-hit " (Whale-killer-house), 
and so on. 

The brown bear and the grampus are consid- 
ered the highest symbols of power; the crow, the 
highest symbol of wisdom, and the eagle, of pene- 
trating vision. All of these are emblems of high- 
caste families. 

The mouse (kootzeen) and the snail (talk) are 
symbols of weakness and degradation, and are the 
emblems of low-caste families. 

Slaves were not allowed to erect totem poles, 
nor was one of a lower caste allowed to erect a 
pole as high or as elaborate as that of a higher 
class man. This would be considered a great 
shame to the higher caste brother, an insult he 
and his clan would not permit. Instances have 
been known where ambitious fellows of a lower 
caste, having erected poles higher than one of 
a higher caste, have been compelled to take their 
totems down and shorten them. 

When a totem is crowned with a hat, the num- 
ber of rings on top of the hat indicate the number 
of important feasts the owner has given. 




XUMEKOUS CL'KIOS 



CLAN EMBLEMS 179 

No clan, or member of a clan, can adopt the 
totem of another clan with impunity. Wars have 
been precipitated by such attempts. Less than a 
decade ago, one clan in Sitka raised the Frog 
totem which was claimed by another phratry than 
the one to which the clan appropriating it be- 
longed. Great trouble ensued and bloodshed was 
averted only by the interposition of the Federal 
authorities. 

A few years ago an audacious native of the Auk 
village at Juneau had the grampus elaborately 
painted on the inside of the back wall of his house. 
This little piece of art originally cost him six 
hundred dollars ; but before he was through mth 
it it cost him much more. A terrible commotion 
followed, as he was not entitled to use the keet 
as his crest. The row was on for a long time, 
and the aifair was finally settled by a money 
payment. 

Some of the reasons assigned for the original 
adoption of crests are interesting, to say the 
least. The Kok-won-tons claim that at one time 
the eagle rendered valuable assistance to a mem- 
ber of that phratry, who in time turned into an 
eagle. Hence their adoption of this crest. 

The Te-qoe-dy claim the grizzly-bear for the 
reason that a member of their clan married a 
female grizzly. The Kok-won-tons also claim 
this as one of their crests, affirming that they ac- 
quired the right to it through one by the name of 
Kat'thla. 

The grampus is the important crest of the Duck- 
la-wady tribe, a branch of the Eagle phratry. 
They adopted this for the reason that one of their 
tribe made the first grampus that ever existed, out 
of a piece of yellow cedar. The Kok-won-tons arQ 



180 TOTEMISM 

privileged to use this crest also. The great leader 
and speaker of the Kok-won-tons at Sitka turned 
his heet onyd'de tzoiv (grampus high-caste hat) 
into the Sheldon Jackson Museum at Sitka, where 
it is one of the interesting objects now seen in 
that institution. 

A man and his wife of the Kik-sud-dy tribe 
were out hunting one day when they heard a song. 
They looked for some time before they could lo- 
cate it. Finally they discovered that it came 
from a little frog in the stern of their canoe. The 
little songster was taken by the woman and cared 
for, and for this reason the frog is the emblem 
of the Kik-sud-dies. 

The woodworm is the particular crest of the 
Ga-nuk-kadies since a woman of their tribe 
suckled the legendary woodworm. 

Whether the Hydahs originated the crest sys- 
tem and totemism, or borrowed them, we have no 
means of knowing. But there are good reasons 
for believing that the Thlingets borrowed them 
from the Hydahs. Those living near them and 
having the most to do with the Hydahs, have the 
most totem poles, whereas the farther away you 
find them from the Hydahs the fewer they have 
and the meaner they are. Then, too, the Thlingets 
are not such skilled totemic workmen as the 
Hydahs, but are mere imitators. 



« 



xvm 

LEGENDS 

THE mytlis and legends of the Thlingets are 
legion. As they have no written language, 
all of their legendary lore is handed down 
to posterity orally and in totemic characters. 
From time immemorial the people have been fond 
of relating their folk-lore, so that most of their 
legends are kept fresh in the minds of all.* 

•Mothers and grandmothers are much given to 
relating legends to the children. Many of them 
are told to point a moral and to influence children 
to obey. Samuel Davis, a native, writes: '* One 
old man begins : ' Once a little boy was all the 
time playing; when his parents told him to do 
anything he would not obey; he would have his 
own way. One day the boy came home about 
dark. His grandfather told him this world was 
as sharp as a knife ; a little boy might slip upon 

* " Winter is the time for the gathering of our people at their 
villages, after being away for supplies of food and other things 
for their comfort. It is the time given for feasting and paying 
for work done for the dead. Almost every night there is some- 
thing going on — either dances, giving of feasts, or some chief 
gives a smoking party (smoking pipes). Then it is that the old 
people get in their stories to the children, all sitting around the 
evening fire after supper." — Samuel Davis. 

" At the funeral of Chiefs the traditions and history of the 
tribe are rehearsed." — " Alaska," by Sheldon Jackson, page 96. 

" These people have an oral mythology of the most fabulous 
character, handed down from father to son." — "Alaska/' by M. 
W. Bruce, page 97. 

181 



182 LEGENDS 

it any time if not careful. "With tliat the boy 
began to stamp his foot on the ground, saying, 
'^ Grandpa, see how I stamp this ground. There 
is plenty of room; I can't fall off." While saying 
these words, something sharp went into his foot, 
and it became swollen and painful. The next day 
the boy died, because he would not listen to his 
grandfather. ' 

'' Then an old woman has her say: ' One time 
a little boy went trapping with his grandfather 
(it was a time when people made slaves). They 
had camped at a certain cove in the evening. The 
old man thought he could hear some one in the 
woods behind them, but would not let the boy 
know, because the boy would be frightened. So 
the old man said to the bo3% '' Go down and see 
if the canoe is well fastened." The old man tried 
to get the boy down to the canoe first, so he could 
run after him, throw him into the canoe and push 
off shore before the people could catch them and 
make slaves of them ; but the boy refused to obey. 
Again he was told to go down to the canoe, but 
again he said, " No." The old man, after trj'ing 
three times to persuade the boy to go to the canoe 
went himself, jumped into the canoe, and pushed 
off shore. The people came from the bushes upon 
the boy and made a slave of him. That is the 
reason why boys nowadays do as they are told.' " 

Again, they are told to rebuke a person for 
boasting or playing the hypocrite. Wlien one says 
that he is very old, implying thereby that he 
knows much, he will be rebuked with the story of 
the sculpin, which runs thus: Yalkth (Crow) saw 
sculpin on the beach and hid from him to see what 
he would do. Sculpin swam out on the ocean and 
went down out of sight. Yalkth opened the door 



LEGEND OF CROW AND DEER 183 

of the ocean and went to the house of sculpin, 
which was under a rock, and said to it, " My 
younger brother, this is you, is it? " Sculpin dis- 
owned him as such. Yalldh insisted that he was 
his older brother. The sculpin said, " I cannot 
be your younger brother for I am a very old per- 
son." The Crow answered: " I want you to be 
next to me. There will be many sculpins, but you 
shall be the head one." So the mighty Crow 
threw sculpin up into the sky, where he is now 
seen (the Pleiades or the Dipper). 

So to one who boasts that he knows because he 
is old, it is said, " If sculpin could not make Crow 
believe that he was so old, neither can you make 
us believe that you are so old and know so much." 

Natives say of a hypocritical mourner at a 
funeral, '^ He is acting as Crow did when he killed 
his friend, the deer." The story goes that Yalkth 
saw a nice fat deer, and said to it, " My friend, 
this is you, is it? " He then invited the deer to 
cross a deep canyon on a rotten log. The deer 
objected because he saw that the log was rotten. 
Yalkth walked across it to convince his friend that 
it would bear him. The deer then attempted to 
cross, but the log broke and he fell to the bottom 
of the canyon and was killed. Yalkth then went 
down and feasted on him. After gorging himself, 
he pretended to be very sorry for the deer and 
claimed that the wild animals had devoured him. 

Stories are told to rebuke and discourage one 
who shows an ambition to marry another of a 
higher caste ; to inculcate honesty, thrift and self- 
respect; to warn husbands to be good to their 
wives lest they should lose them; to keep girls 
from acting foolishly, etc. 

Many of their legends assume to explain the 



184 LEGENDS 

origin of things and the mysteries of existing phe- 
nomena. One tells of the creation of the world. 
Yalkth (the immense imaginary bird) is the 
mighty Creator. 

Other legends claim to give ns the origin of 
man, of the snn, moon and stars, of the whale- 
killer and of other animals. 

For example, the origin of the iniquitous little 
mosquito is thus given: There was in ancient 
times a great giant, cruel and very bloodthirsty. 
His passion was to kill men, drink their blood 
and eat their hearts. 

Many men tried to kill the giant, but were un- 
able to do so until this plan was conceived: A 
man pretended to be dead and lay down on his 
blanket. The giant came along and saw him. He 
felt of the man's flesh and found that he was still 
warm. Then he began to gloat over him and say, 
'' I will eat his heart and drink his blood." So 
he lifted up the man, who allowed his head to 
hang down just as if he were dead, and carrying 
him into his house laid him down, and then went 
on some errand. 

Immediately the man jumped up and seized a 
bow and arrow. Just then the son of the giant 
came in, and he pointed the arrow at the boy's 
head and asked him where his father's heart was, 
and threatened to kill him if he did not tell. The 
boy answered that his father's heart was in his 
heel. 

Then the giant came in and the man shot the 
arrow through his heel. Just as the giant was 
dying, he said: '' Though you burn me, I will 
still eat you." 

After the giant was dead the body was cre- 
mated. Then the man, in derision, took the ashes 



ORIGIN OF WHALE TRIBE 185 

and threw them to the winds. But each particle 
of the ashes became a mosquito. 

Nearly every tribe has some legend accounting 
for the origin of their people. 

The origin of the Whale tribe is thus briefly 
told: Many, many years ago, a young Stickeen 
boy amused himself by carving a small image of 
a whale and sailing it about on the water. The 
sport was quietly indulged in from time to time, 
until on one eventful day the piece of cedar wood 
turned into a live whale of unusual size and swam 
away. The boy was surprised and alarmed, of 
course, and ran home to tell his parents of what 
had taken place. His father and mother, grown 
wise as the years had passed over them, knew at 
once that their son was destined to become a great 
man ; he was to be the father of a new tribe that 
should spread abroad throughout the land, great 
and powerful. And so we find it to-day. 
Branches of the Whale tribe are to be found in 
many villages, and wherever found they are able 
to hold their own in the affairs of life. 

The totem of the Da-se-ton' of Killisnoo is the 
beaver. Some of the tribe captured a small 
beaver and kept it as a pet. In time it began to 
compose songs. One day the masters of the 
beaver found two beautifully carved salmon-spear 
handles near the foot of a tree by a salmon stream. 
These were carried home, and when the beaver 
saw them he claimed that he made them. Some- 
thing was said that offended him, when he began 
to sing songs like a person. While he was doing 
this he seized a spear and thrust it through his 
master's chest, killing him instantly. Then he 
threw his tail down upon the ground and the earth 



186 



LEGENDS 



on which that house stood caved in. The beaver 
had dug the earth out from under it. It is from 
this incident that the Da-se-ton claim the beaver 
as their crest. 

The wolf is the crest of the K6k-w6n-t6n' tribe. 
There are two versions of how the wolf came to 
be adopted as their totem. One is that a member 
of the tribe met a wolf with a bone in his mouth. 
'' What makes you so lucky? " asked the man. 
The wolf turned and fled. The following night he 
dreamed that he came to a very fine village, the 
village of the Wolf people. The wolf he had 
spoken to the previous day came to Mm and told 
him something to make him very lucky, saying, 
" I am your friend." He was very thankful for 
the kind treatment of the man. For this reason 
the Kok-won-tons have used the wolf for their 
crest. 

The other version is that the man met with 
some monster wolves while out hunting. One 
spoke up and told the others not to kill him, and 
for this reason the wolf is now the tribal totem. 

The earthquake is thus explained: Underneath 
the earth stands an old woman in a bent position. 
On her back rests a pillar and on top of this rests 
the earth. YCdhth, in an evil mood, tries to shoves 
the old woman from her position. She topples 
but does not fall. When she topples this causes | 
the earth to quake. If ever Yalkth succeeds in 
pushing her do^vn, the world will come to an end. 
The name of this Thlinget Atlas is Hd-td-ye shd-\ 
nuk'kd (old-woman-under). 

The Thunder Bird, by flapping his wings ori 
even by moving one of his quills, causes the 
thunder, and the wink of his eye produces thoi 
lightning. 



TOPKNOT OF BLUEJAY 187 

The reason why human beings die is explained 
in this manner: The young Crow endeavoured to 
make man out of rock and out of a leaf at the same 
time, but the rock was slow while the leaf was 
very quick. Therefore human beings came from 
the leaf, and because leaves wither and die, there- 
fore men grow old, wrinkle and die. 

The bluejay came thus by his topknot: Yalkth 
practised a deception on the squirrel and bluejay. 
The latter, becoming angry at this, had the bold- 
ness to go to Yalkth and upbraid him for it. 
Yalkth seized him by the feathers of his head and 
pulled them up in a bunch. 

The story goes that a man and his wife were 
living at a certain fort. Disease had destroyed 
their relatives, and they thought to give a great 
feast in their memory. One day an iceberg floated 
near their dwelling. They took it in and treated 
it as a guest. Much oil was poured into the fire, 
and dishes of berries and other food were placed 
before it. The ice gave forth a squeak that could 
not be understood, but was really an invitation 
to the dead relatives to partake of the feast. For 
this reason when an iceberg drifts near a canoe 
the occupants give it tobacco, saying, '* Ok-yeet- 
s^e-e " (My son's daughter) or ^^ Ok-yeet-shut'e " 
(My son's wife). 

Myths and legends were the first efforts of 
primitive man to account for the cause of things. 
Crude as some of them are, they yet evince the 
awakening of human thought. The myth-builders 
were the primitive philosophers. While, in many 
instances, their legends are absurd, yet we should 
be charitable in our criticism, remembering that 
they were originated out of ignorance. They ap- 
peared reasonable to the people of their age, 



188 LEGENDS 

else tliey would not have been so influenced by 
thenL 

The Thlingets have legends of notable events, 
as, for instance, of a flood, from which only a few 
people were saved. These became separated, 
hence the diversity of speech among them. The 
Mount Ararat of this flood is located not far from 
Shakan on Prince of Wales Island. 

Numerous are their legends of wonderful ex- 
ploits. Let it suffice to instance only two or three : 

Two brothers were hunting when they killed a 
porpoise. While skinning it as their canoe moved 
along, they saw a devilfish approaching. At once 
they prepared to battle with the monster, one of 
them handling a spear and the other a sharp knife.j 
When the devilfish came to the surface and] 
reached out his tentacles to embrace them, he was] 
such a horrid-looking creature that the man who] 
held the knife became frightened and jumped] 
right into his mouth. He was swallowed up sol 
quickly that he could do nothing. This left the] 
brother with the spear to fight the monster single-j 
handed. He succeeded in killing him, but not until 
after the octopus had entwined his slimy arms| 
around his canoe; so when the dead monster begai 
to sink he took the canoe with him, too. However,! 
in due time they all floated up on a narrow point.] 
Here the devilfish was cut open, when lo, the mai 
that was swallowed was found alive and none th( 
worse for his tenancy in the monster's belly. 

A certain man caught two whales and tried t( 
swim ashore with them. After swimming all nighty 
he succeeded in landing them. But when he did 
so the raven called and he died. 'V\^ien the raven 
croaked his wife knew what had happened, but 
she would not go out of the house to see her dead 



TOTEM IN PIONEER SQUARE, SEATTLE 189 

husband. Her mother, however, discovered the 
two whales and the dead husband, who had now 
turned into a monster, lying on the beach. Soon 
all the people heard about the strange creature 
lying with the whales and went to see it. At last 
the wife, who was a chief's daughter, went out 
to the place, crying as she went. The people were 
astonished at her conduct, and asked: " What 
does that high-caste girl mean by calling the mon- 
ster her husband? " As soon as the girl came 
near her mother she said: "Where are your 
spirits now? You do not speak the truth. You 
say that you have spirits when you have none. 
If you had, this would not have happened to my 
husband." The people became very much ex- 
cited and listened with great interest to the girl 
as she talked to her mother. Finally the widowed 
girl said to the people, " Some of you that av& 
clean come and help me. ' ' Her husband had died 
in the act of holding the jaws of the monster 
apart. When the people recognized this they were 
more surprised than ever, and said, *' He must 
have been cajDtured by that remarkable creature. ' ' 

Many of these legends of wonderful exploits 
are recorded on totem poles. The totem now 
standing in Pioneer Square in the city of Seattle 
gives the tale of a devoted girl who lost her life 
in an attempt to reach the bedside of her dying 
sister. The latter lived far away on the Nass 
river. As soon as the sister in health heard of 
her condition, she set out on the long journey to 
see the dying one, but her frail canoe was upset 
on the river and she was drowned. The totem 
was erected in honour of this brave sister. 

Many queer legends are recorded on the totems 
erected inside of the houses. 



190 LEGENDS 

On one of these slabs in a house at Kluckwan, 
a man is depicted in violent action among beasts. 
The explanation is that a certain man, impelled 
by taunts, determined to become very strong. To 
this end he exercised and exposed himself to the 
rugged elements. He would get out of bed very 
early in the morning, break icicles from the eaves 
of the house, place them under his arms and then 
stand in the cold water of the river. He would 
then call for the Cold (believing it to have per- 
sonality) to come from the north. Finally he be- 
came strong enough to break the strong part of 
a tough tree. Then, in time, he went out to fight 
with whales. He would catch them by the tails 
and tear their tails apart. Finally he tore the 
stomach out of one, inflated it and got inside of 
it and floated off, no one knew where. 

While floating around in this stomach (Jonah- 
like), he composed songs, which are now used as 
tribal songs by his tribe. This stomach was 
found (according to the story of the people), and 
became the property of his tribe. They kept it 
many years and finally burned it. 

In the same village with this curious house 
totem may also be seen a large mask, the image 
of the woman who adopted the worm. She suckled 
tliis worm as she would a babe, and raised it. 
When grown, the worm went under the houses 
and shook them do^vn (an earthquake, perhaps). 
This woman composed songs that now belong to 
the Crow tribe. None other than members of this 
tribe can use these songs. 

The tribe had a mask made to represent this 
remarkable woman. It is now considered a very 
valuable heirloom. It is ugly, yet no one would 
be allowed to make fun of it. 



CONCERNING MT. EDGECUMBE 191 

It is rather remarkable that while the natives 
of Kluckwan have made so much of this woman 
who adopted the worm, yet according to their 
traditions she lived in the vicinity of Wrangell. 

In front of the Sheldon Jackson School, at Sitka, 
there is a large rock just at the edge of high- 
water mark. Many, taking the walk from the 
town to Indian river, sit on this rock as the half- 
way resting place. It is known as the " Blarney 
Stone," and is interwoven with several Indian 
legends. 

Mt. Edgecumbe, an extinct volcano within 
twenty miles or so of Sitka, is the seat of several 
legends. It is claimed that the old woman who 
supports the world on her shoulders went down 
this volcano to the underworld. It is further said 
that Tschdk (the great Eagle) picked up whales 
out of the ocean and carried them to the top of 
this distinguished mountain. In verification of 
this claim, it is said that great heaps of whale 
bones may be found there. 

It certainly is a very inviting spot for the un- 
tutored mind to conjure with. To the tourist, this 
venerable volcano is worth travelling many miles 
to see. On a clear day, as viewed from Sitka, it 
is a pearl of beauty adorning the landscape. 

On a mountain top back of Kluckwan there is 
a lake which is a fruitful source of mysteries and 
myths. There are certain rocks in the Chilkat 
river which are said to be petrified people. These 
people belonged to the Crow tribe and were com- 
ing from the interior at the time of this fearful 
calamity. Just why they met with this fate, the 
writer was not informed. Perhaps unguardedly 
they made fun of some object, or some foolish 
boast as to what they could do. 



192 LEGENDS 

In the valley back of the town of Skagway lives 
an old woman with a wonderful blowing capacity. 
This is why the winds come tearing down the 
valley and keep the ground free from snow. 
•Madam Skoog-wa (Skagway is a corruption of 
this word) blows it all away when she pleases. 

It is remarkable how generally known the leg- 
ends of the Thlingets are among the people. 
Though their country is large and communities 
are widely separated, yet the entire people are 
familiar with these legends. 

Naturally the traditions mil vary some as told 
by different ones. In substance, however, there 
is remarkable agreement. 



XIX 
NATIVE JURISPEUDENCE 

IN the accepted sense of the term, there is no 
such thing as government with the natives. 
They have no courts, jails, police nor statutory 
laws; in short, nothing corresponding to civilized 
government. They have no such thing as trials. 
AH grievances, offences and injuries are settled 
according to tribal demand. The tribe or clan 
takes up its member's cause, and settlements are 
made according to the nature of the offence, or 
injury, and the standing of the injured. The tribe 
of the injured party determines the amount neces- 
sary to settlement. 

Wounded feelings, as well as injuries of the 
body and invasion of property rights, have to 
be atoned for. Any crime may be paid for on a 
money basis, but while they usually demand life 
for life, it is not necessarily the life of the mur- 
derer. It is more often the life of another, and 
an entirely innocent person. 

If a high-caste native kills one of a lower caste, 
it is not the one who did the killing that is taken, 
but one equal in station to the one killed. The 
same holds good if one of a lower caste kills one 
of a higher. If one higher than the one killed 
is taken, then the killing has to go on until it is 
considered equal. 

If a woman kills a man, not the woman, but 

193 



194 NATIVE JURISPRUDENCE 

some man of her tribe must be taken, as a woman 
is not considered the eqnal of a man. 

If a man kills a woman, not the murderer, but 
some woman of his tribe is taken. 

An Indian doctor, while drunk, beat the head 
of his wife to a pulp with a club. The tribe of 
the murdered woman demanded the life of the doc- 
tor 's sister. These substitutions were always 
bravely assumed, as it was regarded great cow- 
ardice for one to refuse the office of substitute. 

When this sister was informed that she was 
wanted, she boldly surrendered herself to b( 
killed. In this case, however, the opposite trib( 
were afraid her people would kill more of themj 
so the case was settled by a blanket payment. 

This was generally the mode of settlement whei 
a rich or high-caste native killed one much ini 
ferior to himself. 

If a white man kills a native, the murderec 
man's friends are not particular as to what white 
man they kill in turn, so they get one whom the] 
deem of equal station. Some years ago, at Wran-| 
gell, a drunken row between United States soldiers 
and natives resulted in the hanging of a native] 
The friends of the man who was hanged killed ai 
innocent trader. In another case, a white mai 
and his wife were killed by natives because the] 
could not account for the sudden disappearance 
of two of their number. Because of this customJ 
more than one white man has mysteriously disj 
appeared in Alaska, 

Accidental injuries, or killing in self-defencel 
must be atoned for precisely the same as if pre] 
meditated. A youth accidentally shot and kille( 
his father. His father's tribe immediately de^ 
manded the life of the youth (father and son art 



INSTANCES OF JURISPRUDENCE 195 

of opposite tribe). The son was willing to sur- 
render his life, but in this case compassion was 
shown and the matter settled on a money basis. 

Near Angoon, some years ago, a howitzer of a 
whaling crew burst and killed one or two natives 
that were employed on the vessel. The natives 
in turn killed two white men for the accident. 

A drunken native, infatuated with a girl, made 
a fiendish attemj)t to ravish her. While battering 
in her door to carry out his brutal purpose, he was 
shot and killed by her people. For this justifiable 
piece of homicide, a man had to pay his life, and 
that man was none other than the girl's husband 
and natural protector. 

If a man commits suicide, a cause is always 
sought, and he who is regarded responsible for 
the cause is blamed and his tribe made to pay 
damages. 

In fact no injury or loss happens to a Thlinget, 
whether intentional or accidental, without his 
seeking redress and damages. For this reason 
every Thlinget is liable to blame and damages 
when, perhaps, he least expects it. Often when 
they are doing a good turn for one another and 
are deserving of thanks, their kindness is re- 
warded with blame. On this account they are 
very cautious what they do for one another. 

A woman on her way from church fell on the 
ice and hurt herself. For this she blamed the 
missionary in charge. He had announced the Sun- 
day before that the sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper would be administered. For this reason 
she came, and she argued that had she not come 
she would not have fallen ; hence he was to blame. 

A girl was invited to go to Haines for her own 
good. While there she met with an injury with 



196 NATIVE JURISPRUDENCE 

which her friends had nothing to do, by being 
thrown out of a wagon. The relative that in- 
vited her to come to Haines was blamed for the 
injury and his tribe made to pay damages. 

This same girl invited a young man to accom- 
pany her from one place to another, the distance 
being only a few miles. They had to ford a river. 
While doing so the wagon was swept away, and 
the young man, and four others in the party, were 
dro^\^led. The girl was saved. While she was in 
no way to blame for the accident, yet she was held 
responsible for the drowning of the young man, 
and her tribe was called upon for heavy damages. 

This feature of their sense of justice strikes one 
as being not only unjust, but often extremely 
ludicrous. 

A man attended the funeral of another. He felt 
so sad that he resorted to the whiskey bottle to 
drown his sorrow. He succeeded in more thor- 
oughly doing so than he had planned, as it killed 
him. Whether it had more than the usual amount 
of poison in it, or he drank too much, we do not 
know. At any rate, his tribe wanted damages 
for the death of their member, so they held re- 
sponsible the clan of the man whose funeral he 
had attended. The argument was that if their 
man had not attended the funeral he would not 
have been so sad ; and had he not been so sad, he 
would not have drunk the whiskey; and had he 
not drunk the whiskey he would not have died. 
Consequently the family that gave the funeral 
were to blame. 

One native loaned another his gun. The bor- 
rower, unfortunately, shot otf his finger. The 
man who loaned the gun was held responsible, as 
the tribe of the injured man argued that had he 



LUDICROUS CASES 197 

not loaned the gun tlieir man would not have lost 
his finger. 

A few years ago one of the small boys of the 
mission armed with a sling of David's variety 
was throwing stones toward the ocean, and like 
the man who shot his arrow in the air, this boy 
did not know that one of his rocks struck a cord- 
wood splitter on the beach in the head. When it 
hit the man he tried to die and when he found he 
couldn't, he went to the mission superintendent 
and demanded five blankets. The superintendent 
offered to pay the doctor's bill but refused to 
listen to any talk of damages. The man departed 
in a wrathful mood. After several days a relative 
of the boy who threw the stone called at the office 
and asked to take the boy from the school. When 
refused he became angry, declared that he had 
paid the boy's debts, and now the boy had to work 
for him. The superintendent, by questioning the 
man, found that the cordwood splitter had gone 
to this man and demanded the five blankets and 
received them. Up to the present date the man 
hasn't been able to get either boy or blankets from 
the mission. 

A woman hired a young man to convey some 
lumber on his boat from a certain sawmill to a 
spot where she wanted to erect a cabin. While 
he was loading the lumber on his boat, the woman 
went down on the wharf to look after the matter. 
On her way a gust of wind caught her and carried 
her off the wharf and she sustained some injuries. 
The blame was attached to the young man. The 
argument was that had he not consented to take 
the lumber she would not have gone on the wharf; 
hence his tribe must pay damages. 

A native was working in the great Treadwell 



198 NATIVE JURISPRUDENCE 

mine at Douglas. He quit, and was on Ms way 
to the steamer returning home when he stepped 
into the post-office and found a letter containing 
a dun for one hundred dollars. Not having the 
money, he concluded to go back to work, earn the 
money and pay the bill. In less than a week he 
fell, with several others, down a shaft in a hoisting 
cage and received injuries which paralyzed him 
for life. At this writing he is living, but abso- 
lutely helpless, and cannot live long. The one 
who wrote him the letter is held responsible for 
his injuries and will be for his death. The tribe 
of the writer of the letter will have to pay heavy 
damages. 

The son of a chief was shot through the cheek, 
merely sustaining a flesh wound; two men, taken 
from the tribe of the one who did the shooting, 
were killed for the injury. A cut or wound in 
the face is considered a matter of the deepest 
shame, and heavy liabilities are always demanded 
for it. 

A high-caste man had the tip of his ear bitten 
off in a drunken brawl. A low-caste man was 
killed for this injury. 

A high-caste woman was accidentally struck by 
a man who was lifting an oolikan scoop. So keen 
was the sense of shame of her people that one of 
their clan killed the innocent offender. But in 
this instance, the matter did not rest there. The 
man 's clan made war on the woman 's, and several 
fell before the melee came to an end. 

If a father injures his own child, whether acci- 
dentally or not, his tribe is liable for damages 
to his wife's people. If a husband injures his 
wife, his tribe must pay damages to her tribe. 

In the days of slavery, any native saved from 



SYSTEM OF LOANING 199 

drowning, freezing, starvation, or any other form 
of death, became the slave of the one who rescued 
Mm. 

When a man dies, leaving children, their ma- 
ternal uncles and aunts assume their support and 
care. Another relief from this species of dis- 
tress is that the surviving husband or wife takes 
another partner without delay. 

Some now repudiate this old system, and insist 
on holding the property in the family after the 
death of either parent. The author has been 
called upon more than once to protect both 
widowers and widows in their property rights 
after the decease of their wives or husbands. 

When a Thlinget loans another money, he ex- 
pects twice as much in settlement, whether the 
borrower pays the sum back within a week or ten 
years. 

A native gives for the purpose of having others 
give much more back to him, not so much for 
sweet charity's sake, or from any promptings of 
generosity. It is considered a shame to those who 
receive anything if they do not give back from 
four to ten fold more. 

A woman gave another an old straw hat. The 
recipient did not want the old thing, but dare not 
refuse its acceptance for fear of giving offence. 
Ashamed to wear it, she put it away in her trunk. 
Some months went by, when the donor came and 
asked: " When are you going to pay me for that 
hat? " 

A young man invited five of his friends to dine 
at a restaurant. The meal of each cost twenty- 
five cents. After dinner, his guests took him to 
a store and each gave him two dollars with which 
he could buy anything he wished. They did this 



200 NATIVE JURISPRUDENCE 

to keep from being put to shame. Large sums are 
exacted for services rendered about tlie dead. 
The most trifling service, such as putting gloves 
on the hands of the dead, or socks on his feet, or 
mourning, must be well paid for. Four young 
men acted as pallbearers for a little child. The 
mother gave them ten dollars each for this slight 
service. To build a coffin, dig a grave, erect a grave 
fence or tombstone commands a large compensa- 
tion. This is largely due to the fact that the na- 
tives are not satisfied unless they spend large 
amounts on the dead. 

If one child injures another, even in play or 
accidentally, the parents of the injured one de- 
mand damages of the parents of the child that 
committed the oifence. Native children seldom 
quarrel or injure one another when playing, and 
this law of the people may, in a measure at least, 
account for it. 

Old grievances that supposedly were settled 
years past are revived for the purpose of extort- 
ing money from one another. 

Forty years ago a fight took place at a village 
known as Hootz-na-oo, between two warring 
tribes. A woman belonging to a powerful tribe of 
the Sitkans was killed. The life of another, or 
a heavy payment in blankets, was demanded. The 
matter was compromised by giving a powerful 
slave to one of the chiefs of the haughty tribe 
of the woman that was killed. As the chief prized 
this slave very much, on account of his strength, 
this was considered a satisfactory settlement. 

The slave served the chief faithfully for years. 
In the summer of 1908 he suddenly died. The 
tribe then decided that they had nothing to show 
for the death of the woman they had lost years 



!^ 



OLD GRIEVANCES 201 

ago and finally proceeded to the village of Hootz- 
na-oo for another payment. Arriving there, they 
demanded one hundred blankets. After some 
powwowing they were paid one hundred and 
twenty blankets, two Chinese trunks and tw^o 
guns. They returned to Sitka thoroughly satis- 
fied with what they received. The tribes are now 
good friends again and peace reigns between 
them. 

In the same village, about fifty years ago, a 
woman w^as insulted by a man. She told her peo- 
ple and they counselled her to insult him in re- 
venge. This she did publicly. This precipitated 
a fight between his people and hers, which re- 
sulted in several beiug killed on both sides. A 
few days ago a party from the man's tribe came 
all the way to Juneau (more than a hundred 
miles) to demand money and blankets from the 
woman 's people on the ground that when they had 
the fight years ago it was not ended equally, hence 
they were yet debtors to the man's tribe. It is 
astonishing how Thlingets will accede to such ab- 
surd claims. 

If a wife leaves her husband, her people must 
return all that w^as given them for her dowTy, or 
its equivalent, to the husband or to his people. 

The payment of all artistic totemic work, 
whether in carving, painting, weaving or engrav- 
ing, is practically regulated by an unwritten law. 
All such work is done by those of an opposite 
phratry and commands extraordinary prices. The 
latter is due to the skill required for such work, 
the sentimental value placed on the emblem, and 
the native's pride in display. 

The chief has the ruling voice in the adjudica- 
tion of all affairs involving the tribe. What he 



202 NATIVE JURISPRUDENCE 

recommends, tlie tribe contend for. There is no 
cessation of hostilities until a satisfactory settle- 
ment has been made. This is one reason why 
tribes yield and amicably settle any and all dis- 
putes ; for with them nothing is settled until both 
sides are satisfied. 

Thus, although the natives have no legislative, 
executive or judiciary department, yet they have 
laws, enforce them and readily submit to them. 

In this age they sometimes get a double dose 
of law, both the white man 's and their own. They 
have been known to be punished in the courts of 
the former and, when they returned to their 
homes, be compelled to make satisfaction to the 
natives also. 

When a native is punished in a white man's 
court the aggrieved natives get nothing. This is 
not satisfactory. They want as redress for all 
injuries a money or property consideration, or 
they are not satisfied. For this reason the white 
man's court is very unsatisfactory to the average 
native. Hence the offender is sometimes 
*' pinched " twice for the same offence. There 
is this, however, to be said in favour of the white 
man's law, that when punishment is meted out it 
is to the offender, while native redress is de- 
manded of the offender's tribe, who may be alto- 
gether inculpable. 



I 



XX 

MUSIC AND AMUSEMENTS 

NO people have greater love for music and 
amusements than the Thlingets. From 
time immemorial they have had their own 
songs. It is surprising how easily and quickly 
they learn to sing our English songs, hymns and 
anthems, and to read music. Not a few of them 
can play the organ well, when they have never 
taken a lesson. 

A few years ago the only thing they had that 
approached a musical instrument, was a rude 
drum. Now every native village has its brass or 
string band, many of their homes have organs, 
and nearly every one a gramophone or phono- 
graph. In the bands are native boys who cannot 
speak or read English, yet they master the 
musical notes without the slightest difficulty. 

For the most part, these bands are self-taught. 
Some native who knows a little more about music 
than the others is chosen as a leader. They then 
work out their own musical salvation, not with 
fear and trembling, but with joy and perseverance. 
They are so fond of it that they do not consider 
any amount of practice a task, but a pleasure, so 
they practise almost incessantly until they become 
proficient. 

Most of them have the gift of song, and some 
of them have exceedingly fine voices. Congrega- 
tional singing in our native churches is spirited 

203 



S04 



MUSIC AND AMUSEMENTS 



and good. Tlieir own native songs at their feasts: 
and dances are in memory of the dead and about' 
the exploits of the great and of their patron] 
animal. Mothers have their lullaby songs which; 
they sing to soothe their babes to sleep. 

Their memorial songs used at feasts and pot- 
latches are very sacred and the people believe 
they receive strength from them. They are used 
only on special occasions. According to tradition 
they were composed at the time of the flood (not 
the flood of the Bible, but of native tradition) 
and relate the sad events of that terrible visita-| 
tion, such as the finding of bodies and the separa- 
tion of their clans. Their songs of more recent] 
composition are not so significant as their older] 
ones and are composed from various motives. 
They relate mostly to exploits and happenings of I 
one kind and another, some of them having little | 
or no significance. The raven, one of their great 
patron birds, has much to do with inspiring songs. ; 
When a house was " danced together," as many] 
songs were sung as motions were made, which, 
usually, were four to the right and four to the left. ■ 
This was done when a feast was given after the] 
completion of a house. 

Some songs were sung by women only. Much] 
of their so-called singing is a mere weird chant, 
which to the white man is very monotonous and] 
depressing. The pitch scarcely varies from start j 
to finish. These chants forcibly remind one of 
witches, hobgoblins and spirits. It is the peculiar 
construction and genius of their songs rather thanj 
the voices of the singers which make them weird] 
and uncanny. 

All kinds of amusements and sports appeal! 
strongly to these people. They will give their 



J 



AMUSEMENTS 205 

last dime to see anything amusing or entertaining, 
and they welcome anything that comes along. In 
the era when low dance-halls flourished in our 
communities, they were largely patronized by na- 
tives, in spite of their vileness. 

It is this fondness for amusement and enter- 
tainment, as well as their respect for their cus- 
toms, that gives dancing and feasting such a hold 
on the people. The white man's dance is now 
appealing to them, and not a few are already its 
devotees. We fear that it will prove a detriment 
rather than a blessing to them. 

In their socials, all kinds of amusing games are 
played to the unbounded delight of all present. 
Their laughter is a spontaneous outburst. They 
care little for games that require much mental 
effort, and they eliminate from their socials and 
entertainments everything not of a comic and 
laughter-provoking nature. While they have 
many original games of their own, yet they have 
appropriated a number from the white people. 
Outside, in the proper season, they enter with 
zest into all kinds of athletic sports. Some vil- 
lages have strong ball teams. Fourth of July is 
the big day of the year for outdoor sports. They 
leave their camps wherever they are and come into 
town to celebrate. The sports of the day are base- 
ball, canoe-racing, running, jumping, vaulting, 
throwing the weight, rock-drilling and other 
things too numerous to mention. Every native 
who can crawl out of bed is out to enjoy the sights. 
Not one of the long list of sports does he miss 
if he can help it. This is the day when all are 
dressed in their best. Dresses and new suits are 
bought for the occasion. The celebration over, 
they are then carefully put away in a trunk, 



206 MUSIC AND AMUSEMENTS 

not to be worn until the holiday comes round 
again. 

In their socials, the most popular of their own 
games is what they call " Jia-goo " (come here!). 
They choose sides, having from ten to twenty or 
more on a side. Each side chooses a leader, who 
is given a flag. This leader stands out in front 
of those on his side. Then the name of some one 
on the opposite side is called out with the invita- 
tion — " Ha-goo " — to come and take away the flag 
without smiling if he can possibly do so. When 
he approaches to take the flag they do and say all 
sorts of funny things to make him smile. If he 
smiles, he has to leave his party and join the side 
with the flag. If, on the other hand, he succeeds 
in taking the flag without smiling, then all that 
have been captured from his side are released to 
go back to the side from which they were taken. 
In this way they try to pull over the entire op- 
posite side, and the side which succeeds in doing 
this is the winning one. This game affords them 
lots of amusement. Some start out with a very 
serious face, determined to get the flag with- 
out smiling, but have to succumb before they 
succeed as they meet the volley of jokes, witti- 
cisms and wry faces. Then comes the laugh for 
all. 

The girls play with their dolls and toys of all 
kinds, and the boys play ball, marbles, fly kites 
and indulge in all kinds of childish games. Coast- 
ing and skating are favourite winter sports. 
EoUer-skating is quite a fad with the native boys 
and girls. In several places in the territory there 
are large rinks run by white men, and they are 
liberally patronized. But dancing is the most 
popular amusement of all. 



J 



JOKES AND WITTICISMS 207 

Many of their games are games of contest. This 
IS carried into their dancing. They also have 
eating contests. The original native spoon is a 
very large affair, practically a ladle, carved out 
of wood or horn. One of these will hold a half 
pint or more of seal oil. At times they vie with 
one another to see who can drink the most spoon- 
fuls of this nauseating oil. 

They are very fond of jokes and mtticisms. In 
their feasts and other public gatherings they have 
a great deal of speech-making, like the guests at 
a fashionable banquet. These speeches are char- 
acterized by wit and humour that frequently 
elicit the loudest applause. Of course some of 
their remarks that would sound tame to us strike 
them as being very clever. 

In this connection it may not be out of place 
to mention some incidents, amusing and other- 
wise, that have come under our notice. 

A noted woman of Sitka prayed openly in 
prayer-meeting that God would forgive her for 
the sins she had in mind to commit the following 
week. 

A pupil of one of our mission schools reported 
that another boy had sworn at him. The culprit 
was summoned before the superintendent and ad- 
mitted that he was guilty. When asked what evil 
things he had said, he replied that he called his 
accuser '' ham and eggs." He was dismissed with 
the injunction to go, and '' swear " no more. 

At a funeral we saw a woman, as we were leav- 
ing the house with the corpse, pick up a phono- 
graph and take it along with her. As we had 
seen them carry all kinds of things to place in 
and around the graves of their departed ones, even 
sewing-machines, we naturally thought she was 



208 MUSIC AND AMUSEMENTS 

carrying the phonograph for the same purpose 
But as soon as the coffin was placed in the wagoi 
that was to bear it to the cemetery, the music 
box was placed on top of the coffin, a youth jumped 
into the wagon from behind, wound up the ma- 
chine, put on a record and set it to squeaking out 
a funeral march. When this was played through 
it was started again, and was kept playing until 
we arrived at the grave. As soon as the body was 
committed to the grave, it was set to playing 
again, and when we left the cemetery the macliine 
was doing its utmost to soothe their sorrowing 
hearts. 

In some towns it has become very stylish to 
hire a hearse; a luxury which costs ten dollars. 
Recently we held a funeral at which they started 
to carry the coffin to the cemetery, a distance of 
about a mile. The procession had not gone more 
than a quarter of the way when all at once it was 
decided that they should have the hearse — not so 
much to relieve the men who were carrying the 
coffin, but for the looks of the thing. It was a 
cold, stormy day, with a foot or more of snow on 
the ground. The coffin with the corpse was 
dropped in the snow and the procession kept wait- 
ing near it while the hearse was brought to convey 
the remains the rest of the way to the cemetery. 
It took nearlj^ an hour to get the vehicle, and all 
that time the procession stood there in the snow 
and storm. 

"We see queer things, not only at burials, but 
also at weddings. It is rather odd to see two old 
people who have lived together for thirty or 
forty years and have, perhaps, four or five chil- 
dren, stand up to be married. Yet this has been 
done in several instances. They had lived to- 



IN CHURCH 209 

getlier in the Thlinget way, but they wanted to 
be married the white man's way. 

At one marriage, the bride, seeing that the cere- 
mony was about to be closed, produced a ring to 
be placed on the bridegroom's finger. 

At the same wedding the bridesmaid turned 
her back to the officiating minister while the rest 
of the bridal party stood, as they should, facing 
him. 

Some are so clumsy that they blunder in trying 
to get into position and in trying to clasp hands 
where the ceremony calls for it. 

At a christening, just as the minister was about 
to apply the water, a boy of four years took 
fright and ran at the top of his speed down the 
aisle and out of the church. 

In prayer-meetings we have seen mothers pray- 
ing (standing, with eyes closed) with babies from 
a year to two years old kicking and squirming in 
their arms enough to jolt every idea out of the 
head of the ordinary white woman ; yet they have 
kept right on praying until their entreaty was 
through. 

On one occasion we saw a man who was blocked 
in a seat by three women get up and climb over 
the backs of several seats in order to get out ; and 
that in the presence of a large congregation. This 
he did rather than ask the women to let him 
pass. To speak to the women would, in his 
estimation, be a great breach of propriety, but 
climbing over the seats was nothing out of the 
way. 

Tlieir dogs frequently come to church and some- 
times it requires much ingenuity to get them out. 
Eight in the midst of the service some one will 
collar a dog or grab him by the tail and drag him 



210 MUSIC AND AMUSEMENTS 

out of the sanctuary with as much gravity as if 
it were part of the service. 

When the natives saw a steamboat for the tirst 
time they took to the woods through fright. They 
thought it was some huge being that would bring 
a terrible disease, such as smallpox. For this 
reason they pulled a certain native vegetable that! 
resembles our carrot and is peppery, and looked 
through them at the steamboat, believing that this j 
would protect them from the disease. They were 
amazed when they saw men walking about on the' 
*' fire-canoe." 

The phonograph was a great wonder to themj 
when it first came, and they flocked to see andj 
hear the wonderful box that could talk and sing. 
They readily paid a quarter to hear a single tune, I 
and one white man reaped a financial harvest fromj 
them for letting them hear his machine. 

The first negro that appeared in their country] 
was a great puzzle to them. They held all kinds] 
of theories as to what made him black. Some 
maintained that he had lived where there was tooj 
much smoke ; others that he lived in a house whosei 
only entrance was a chimney, and that he became] 
black by going in and out. 

When they first saw a man with a wooden leg,! 
they regarded him not only with wonder, but] 
thought him a very comical sight. 

The man who could take off his hair (wig) wasi 
a greater wonder to them, however, than the man] 
with the wooden leg. 

But the most wonderful of all, and the one that] 
afforded them the most amusement and most ex- 
cited their curiosity, was the man who could take I 
out his teeth. One of them made the discovery 
that a certain storekeeper could do this. He soon 



THE FALSE TEETH 211 

spread the news among his people, and they 
flocked to the store to see the wonderful man. 
They even bluntly asked him to take out his teeth. 
Seeing his opportunity to attract them to his store 
as patrons, he did so. Their amazement knew no 
bounds when they saw him take out of his mouth 
a full set of uppers, gum and all, and then replace 
them. Every native in the country soon heard 
of this remarkable man, and many of them made 
an excuse to buy something just to get an oppor- 
tunity of seeing the storekeeper remove and re- 
place his teeth. It proved to be a splendid " ad " 
for him. 

These incidents will serve to show how impres- 
sionable they are. It may be truthfully said that 
the native, with his little, gets more real enjoy- 
ment out of life than do many of our wealthy 
white people with riches at their command. He 
has fewer wants and cares, and, above all, is not 
greedy for riches. Hence we find more content- 
ment and true enjoyment of life in the homes of 
these humble people than in many homes of our 
own race. 



XXI 

MORALITY 

IT cannot be denied that '' latitude and longil 
tude make broad differences as to what con- 
stitutes vice and virtue." The ethics of the 
Chinaman do not altogether correspond with those 
of the American. The lower the scale of civiliza- 
tion the wider the difference in what constitutes 
vice or virtue. 

So we find the Thlingets of Alaska measuring 
actions by a different standard from our own. 
What would shock us they regard as eminently 
proper. On the other hand, what we approve 
they would condemn. 

They see no impropriety in a man living with 
a woman some months with the view of marrying 
her providing she suits him. We see no impro- 
priety in a man escorting another man's wife 
under certain circumstances, whereas they think 
this altogether improper and reprehensible. 

Thousands of our people of both sexes go in 
bathing together right in public every summer. 
Nothing could be more shocking to the natives of 
Alaska than this. 

We think it is altogether proper for brothers 
and sisters not only to speak to each other, even 
after the sister becomes a woman, but to show 
their affection for one another. The Alaskan na- 
tives, on the other hand, consider it the proper 
thing for a brother to sit with his back to his 

213 



ETHICS OF THLINGETS 213 

sister or his mother-in-law; if he needs to com- 
municate with them it must be through a third 
party, or in such a manner as if he were not ad- 
dressing them. 

It is regarded a shameful thing for a married 
woman to speak to a man other than her husband, 
or to be seen in the company of another man for 
even a moment. 

Our young girls and ladies may have their 
beaux and talk with their gentlemen acquaintances 
as much as they like and no harm is thought of it. 
The Thlinget girls cannot do this without being 
branded as immoral. 

To marry one of the same great totemic phratry, 
though no blood relation, is a matter of deep dis- 
grace, and in earlier times one who violated this 
custom was punished with death. Any who offend 
in this matter now are deeply execrated. 

We recall a case where two cousins of the same 
phratry married. They loved each other and were 
married according to the white man's law. But 
their own people turned bitterly against them for 
this, and scorned the girl from the day of her 
marriage until her death. 

A wife is greatly disgraced if she is east off by 
her husband, though she may be altogether unde- 
serving of such treatment. For this reason wives 
often endure very brutal treatment from their 
husbands. 

It is considered a very shameful thing for a 
woman to expose her person even to her husband 
or to another woman. Women suffer and die, 
even in childbirth, rather than submit themselves 
to a doctor. 

Sweeping charges of immorality have been 
made against the natives of Alaska. This is no 



214. MORALITY 

more just than to declare the same of white people 
because some are bad. Even though a majority 
of them were immoral it would not justify us in 
saying they were all so. It were as just for them 
to declare that all the white people are drunkards 
because they see so many who are. Sweeping 
statements are seldom true or just. 

It is said that the women have no regard for 
chastity, but their system of ethics is largely to 
blame for this. It is not considered improper for 
a man and woman to live together, though not 
married. Consequently some use this as a license 
for improper sexual relations. There are, how- 
ever, those who are chaste and would not barter 
their virtue for any price. While prostitution is 
practised, it is not advertised and fostered as it 
is with civilized races. 

It should be remembered that the natives have 
not been long acquainted with our system of mar- 
riage. Their own was without rite or ceremony. 
In many instances a mere mutual understanding 
between the parties living together that they were 
husband and wife was all there was to it. This 
never offended the public conscience so long as the 
parties showed good faith. 

Nearly every race has a different marriage sys- 
tem from all the others. Uncivilized communities, 
from the very nature of the case, cannot know of 
the Christian form until it is introduced. They 
are obliged to hit upon some system, crude as it 
may appear to us. The Thlingets adopted the 
dowry system that prevailed in the time of Jacob. 
This is just as sacred in their eyes as the Chris- 
tian system is to us. Under it native men and 
women have lived together for thirty, forty and 
fifty years in good faith, and reared large fami- 



CARE OF DAUGHTERS 215 

lies. They could not liave done better had they 
been married by a dozen priests. And yet we 
meet white people who regard the native system 
as a system of fornication. 

There are no parents in all the world that guard 
their girls more carefully in order to preserve 
their chastity than the Thlingets of Alaska. If 
they did not value virtue they certainly would not 
be so careful to protect it. As soon as a girl ap- 
proaches womanhood she is kept under constant 
surveillance. She is not allowed to go off by her- 
self anywhere. She is under the eye of her 
mother, or aunt or sister until she is married. It 
seems to us that this shows some regard for 
virtue. 

It is true that much coarse, vulgar and indecent 
sensuality obtains with some, but more from 
drunkenness than election. Women are debauched, 
but are not willing parties to the transaction. 
The appetite for strong drink is the curse and 
ruin of many of them, and has betrayed many a 
woman to part with her virtue. Men, knowing 
their weakness for liquor and how helpless they 
are when under its influence, use this means of 
taking advantage of them. 

The sale and the giving of liquor to the natives 
is the most debasing of all influences that they 
encounter. There is a stringent law against it, 
and public opinion in Alaska is strongly with the 
law, yet there are men so low (white men, we are 
sorry to say) that they are constantly violating 
this law. The courts are doing their best to stamp 
out this criminal practice and have succeeded in 
sending many of these offenders to the peniten- 
tiary. But in spite of their strenuous efforts to 
break it up, the traffic in liquor with the natives 



216 MORALITY 

continues with most baneful and degrading 
results. 

This curse has hung like a pall over them since 
the advent of the Russians. Before the coming 
of the white man they were strangers to liquor 
in any form. The art of brewing and drinking 
it was acquired. Ballou, in his volume on Alaska, 
states that the Russians taught them to make 
quass. Bancroft, in his history of Alaska, claims 
that they were taught the art of distilling by 
United States soldiers. 

Whoever is responsible for their knowledge of 
manufacturing drink, it is certain that they knew 
nothing of it until they were taught it by members 
of the superior race. 

Another undeniable fact is that they have been 
encouraged to drink by the example, not only of 
white civilians, but of soldiers who were sent to 
Alaska to maintain law and order. Bancroft, in 
his history of Alaska, has shown that the soldiery 
have much of the debauchery of the natives to 
answer for. Governor Swineford, and other 
writers on Alaska, bear witness to the same un- 
pleasant truth. Scores of citizens have made the 
same observation. It is certainly regrettable that 
men who are sent out by our government to en- 
force law and order should be the very ones to 
drink and carouse, create drunken brawls, strife 
and discord in communities where they live. That 
this has been done times without number in 
Alaska, no one can deny. 

The government makes a ludicrous mistake in 
thinking the miners of Alaska need the soldiery 
to restrain them from acts of violence. As a class 
their behaviour is far superior to that of the 
soldiery. 



RUM, THE ARCH-EVIL 217 

There are some fine fellows wearing the uni- 
form, and the officers, with scarcely an exception, 
are true gentlemen. But too many rowdies are in 
the ranks, and such should not be employed to 
conserve law and order. As soon as they are 
loose from duty, they make for the saloons to 
drink, carouse and do violence. 

It is a question whether Alaska has profited 
or suffered more from the army. Bancroft and 
other careful writers think the latter is true. 

*' There are plenty of irresponsible whites," 
writes Ballon, " ready to make money out of the 
aborigines. Eum is the native's bane, its effect 
upon him being singularly fatal ; it maddens him ; 
even slight intoxication means to him delirium 
and all its consequences, wild brutality and utter 
demoralization." 

More crimes, cruelty, brutality and misery 
among the natives are due to drink than to any 
other one thing — yea, than to all other things put 
together. Many have died directly from over- 
drink and poisonous drinks. Many have been 
killed in drunken brawls or crippled for life. 
Children are abused, neglected and made to suffer 
by drunken parents. 

The teachers and missionaries who live and la- 
bour among the natives have many sad cases of 
brutality and suffering, all through drink, brought 
to their notice. 

Theft is little known among them. Before the 
fine art of thieving was introduced by the white 
man, no man's house was ever robbed, nor his 
wood stolen though cut and banked in the forest; 
his garden was not plundered, though miles from 
his home, nor his blankets thrown over his canoe 
to protect it from the sun disturbed, nor any 



218 MORALITY 

of his belongings appropriated by another. Val- 
uable articles are deposited in deadhouses and 
on and around graves, articles that natives covet, 
yet these were never stolen. The example of 
white crooks and thieves is pernicious and has 
encouraged some natives to imitate them. Much 
thieving has been laid to their door, when in truth 
it belonged to white rascals. 

The percentage of thieving by natives is much 
lower than that of the white races. For more than 
twenty years we have lived among them. Our 
doors have been left unlocked for them to walk in 
and out; frequently we were out and they had 
the house all to themselves, yet in all these years 
we have never had anything stolen by one of them. 

While many have been brought into court for 
drunkenness, disorderly conduct, fighting, assault, 
etc., yet very few have been tried for theft. The 
crime of murder has been committed by them, but 
not so often as by white men in their country. In 
most cases this crime, when committed by natives, 
was because they were under the influence of 
liquor. It is safe to say that as many natives have 
been killed by white men as white people killed 
by them. 

A man committed suicide simply to make 
trouble for one who offended him. According to 
native custom, if a person commits suicide be- 
cause some one has offended him, or opposed a 
■wish of his, heavy damages or a life must be given 
to the tribe of the suicide by the tribe of the one 
giving the offence. So suicide is sometimes re- 
sorted to in order to harass and burden others. 
The threat of suicide is sometimes used as a bluff 
to get one's way. 

There are a few native girls who imitate their 



VICES 219 

fallen white sisters. They barter their virtue, and 
some of them, when they find themselves trapped, 
resort to abortion. This they do, not by applying 
to a physician, as we have no physicians who 
would abet a native girl in this, but by personal 
efforts and by taking native concoctions. They 
are not always successful, as too many cliildren 
without visible fathers testify. 

The native " tough " is becoming scarcer and 
scarcer, and has always been frowned on by the' 
great body of natives. The natives no more ap- 
prove of their girls leading a bad life than the 
white people do of their girls. While there may 
be yet a few native girls who lead a fast life, the 
number is small as compared with those who were 
once given to it. Some of them have been brought 
into the church, reformed and transformed, and 
for years have led a clean life. They have settled 
down, content to be the wife of one man and rear 
children. 

Among the white people of Alaska, the natives 
have the reputation of having little regard for 
the truth. Their testimony in court, unless cor- 
roborated by the testimony of a white person, will 
not be considered by the average juryman. We 
have found from experience that while it is true 
the word of many is unreliable, yet there are 
those who can and do speak the truth, and whose 
word may be depended on. But we admit, with 
regret, that many will prevaricate if they think 
there is anything to be gained by it, or to injure 
one for whom they have ill will. 

One of their most reprehensible faults is their 
failure to meet their financial obligations to white 
men. Merchants who have given them credit, and 
friends who have loaned them money, have found 



220 MORALITY 

all too late that but few of them have the honour 
to square their accounts. They seem to think it 
is legitimate for them to " beat " a white man. 
Of course there are some who will pay without 
coercion their just debts. Among themselves they 
l^ay, as they cannot get away from it. 

Profanity, smoldng and chewing tobacco, and 
drinking are acquired vices. They are not as yet 
very profane. But they hear profanity so much 
from white men that it sticks to them to some ex- 
tent. Some use profane words without knowing 
that they are reprehensible. This is seen in speak- 
ing to the missionary in whose presence they 
would not use " bad " words if they knew them 
to be such. 

Not a few are addicted to smoking, but very 
few chew tobacco. The older women are particu- 
larly fond of snuff, and some of them use the pipe 
also. 

It is only just to say that among them there are 
those who eschew all of these evils and live good 
moral lives. 



xxn 

DISEASES 

WHILE certain diseases have always been 
found among the Thlingets, others that 
now afflict them are of recent introduc- 
tion. Tumours, cancers and toothache were un- 
known to them until within recent years. The 
older ones have yet sound and excellent teeth 
while the rising generation experience the white 
people's misfortune of cavities, toothache and 
dental torture. 

A certain woman eighty years old or more, and 
known to us, has never had the toothache, and 
every tooth in her head to-day is as sound as a 
dollar. On the other hand, a woman yet in her 
twenties has had half of her teeth extracted and 
several of the remaining ones filled. The white 
man's food, especially his sweetmeats, which are 
now freely indulged in by the natives, is, no doubt, 
largely the cause of this change. 

While consumption is now the most prevalent 
disease among them, we are told by the natives 
themselves and by careful historians that it is an 
imported disease. *' The Indian calls tubercu- 
losis ' the white man's disease,' and so far as I 
have been able to learn it was practically unkno\vn 
to him in his uncivilized state. " It is common to 
hear consumption spoken of among our own peo- 
ple as '* The Great White Plague." This would 

231 



22S DISEASES 

indicate that it is surely the white man's disease. 
Whatever its origin with the natives, it is certain 
that it has a fearful hold on them. 

Dr. Paul C. Hutton, surgeon and physician at 
Fort William H. Seward, Haines, Alaska, in a 
published report for the year 1907, states that he 
found on investigation 20.6 per cent of the natives 
of that place afflicted with undisputed tubercu- 
losis, 12 per cent of probable cases of pulmonary 
form, and 16.2 per cent of tuberculosis other than 
pulmonary. 

While every village has its quota of consump- 
tion, yet we are very sure no other village can 
match this. We have been reliably informed that 
there are more cases of venereal diseases among 
the natives in that community than in any other. 
If so, this would account for the prevalence of 
consumption there. 

While this disease, without a doubt, carries off 
to-day more natives than any other, yet we know 
that it is not so bad as it was a decade or more 
ago. The natives clothe themselves better, take 
greater precautions against getting wet and catch- 
ing colds, live under better sanitary conditions 
and employ competent physicians far more than 
they ever did before. This naturally tends to 
lessen the prevalence of the disease. Other 
physicians of eminent ability declare that Dr. Hut- 
ton's report is an exaggeration. They found that 
cases which were considered by him as con- 
sumptives were not such at all. The author is 
positive that the mortality among the natives of 
southeastern Alaska, at least, is not extraordinary. 
Some sickness and death must be expected. Of 
course these should be diminished to the fullest 
.extent. But to raise the cry that the natives are 



SMALLPOX, ETC. 

dying as if smitten with the plague is neither 
true nor wise. 

If there were the least doubt about consumption 
being an imported disease, there can be none about 
smallpox. The scourge was introduced, accord- 
ing to Bancroft,* in the year 1836. Since then it 
has appeared from time to time with more or less 
virulence. The last epidemic of smallpox was in 
the summer of 1901, when scores were carried 
away by it. The natives travel about so much and 
are so careless about spreading diseases that when 
this loathsome disease breaks out it soon goes 
from one end of the country to the other. Their 
communal style of living and the unsanitary con- 
ditions of their villages highly favour it. For 
these reasons, when it breaks out fearful mortality 
results from it. 

All forms of venereal diseases are legacies of 
the white man to the natives. Diseased sailors 
from Russian ships and American whalers intro- 
duced them. Being contagious, and the natives 
being so indifferent to the spread of diseases, 
venereal afflictions are common. Much of it now 
is inherited. Thus the sins of their fathers are 
visited upon their children. 

The prevalence of syphilis is no sign of whole- 
sale immorality, as it spreads by contagion and 
inheritance, and many innocent ones, as is seen 
among the children, are tainted with the disease. 
The careless, uncleanly life of the average native 
favours its spreading and perpetuation. 

Measles and whooping-cough are imported dis- 
eases, and very few native children now escape 
them. Measles is very serious with them, as it 
frequently terminates in pneumonia or con- 
sumption. 

* " History of Alaska," page 5G0. 



224 DISEASES 

The original diseases of the Thlingets are pneu- 
monia, rheumatism, scrofula, blood diseases, 
ophthalmia, neuralgia and pulmonary hemor- 
rhages. Strange to say, fevers such as typhoid, 
scarlet, malarial, etc., are scarcely known in 
Alaska. We would naturally suppose that fevers 
of this nature would thrive among a people so 
untidy in their homes, but such is not the case. 
It may be accounted for on the grounds that the 
temperature never rises high enough to create 
excessive heat and rank decomposition of dead 
vegetation; that the prevalent rains purify the 
atmosphere; that they live on beaches swept by 
tides, and that they have the purest water in the 
world for drinking and cooking purposes. Of 
course we now refer to the natives of the coast. 

We frequently see Thlingets afflicted with tu- 
berculosis of the hip. Ophthalmia is a prevalent 
disease, much of it, we believe, being due to 
smoke. Comparatively speaking, only recently 
have the natives employed stoves. Their life was 
practically spent around an open fire, in the house 
as well as outside. They could scarcely sit around 
these fires without being more or less enveloped 
with clouds of smoke. 

Pott's Disease is another form of tuberculosis 
which we meet with among them. For this rea- 
son we see humpbacks everywhere, and not a few 
have died from tuberculosis in this form. 

Seldom do we find cases of insanity and idiocy 
among the natives. Where insanity has mani- 
fested itself disease has been at the bottom of it. 
They certainly are not driven to it from worry, 
like so many of their white brothers. Aside from 
some petty annoyances, they have little to worry 
about. The simple life, as a rule, gives sHght 



SANITATION 225 

occasion for serious mental disturbance. The in- 
mates of our insane asylums come mostly from 
our more complex civilization. 

The natives have no knowledge of, and, appar- 
ently, no concern about, sanitation. '' Discarded 
garments and old shoes lying rotting in the moist 
soil; salmon skins and salmon flesh disintegrating; 
tin cans partially filled with stinking slush and 
half buried ; rotten logs and decaying organic mat- 
ter everywhere. Both inside and out we find 
everything conducive to the propagation of 
germs." * 

" From a free open life they were changed to 
a life in huts and houses crowded so closely and 
with so little ventilation that probably half a 
I dozen or more would have to breathe air which 
from a hygienic point of view would not contain 
sufficient oxygen to properly support one life." 

The unknown author of this latter quotation is 
correct. A lack of the appreciation of the value 
of good, sweet, fresh air is no doubt responsible 
for not a little sickness among them. 

As Dr. Hutton points out, in the quotation 
above, their carelessness about the removal and 
disposition of garbage is also a fruitful cause of 
disease. 

*' These Alaskans," writes Ballon, " have no 
idea of sewerage, or of the proper disposal of 
domestic refuse. All accumulations of this sort 
I are thrown just outside the doors of their dwell- 
j ings, to the right and left, anywhere, in fact, which 
I is handiest. The stench which surrounds their 
' cabins, under these circumstances, is almost un- 
bearable by civilized people, and must be very 
unwholesome." 

* Hutton. 



226 DISEASE? 

A campaign has been inangnrated by the gov- 
ernment school authorities against this unsanitary 
condition in native villages. But unless there is 
some way to enforce obedience to established rules 
and regulations little will be accomplished, if we 
may judge by the results from efforts of others 
along this same line. The natives, while inclined 
to listen, give very little heed to any hygienic and 
sanitary instructions. 

They have no knowledge of medicine, proper 
nursing or caring for the sick. In their efforts 
to help the sick, their reme<dies, aside from the 
rites of shamanism, are very crude and simple. 
They gather herbs and apply them to the sick, 
sometimes raw and sometimes cooked. They also 
steep roots and herbs and use the liquor from 
them for medicine. The old women are their 
chemists. They mingle not a little superstition 
in with their concoctions. For scrofula the inner 
bark of the devilclub and oil were outwardly ap- 
plied. The bark was dried and groimd to powder. 
Bleeding was, and is yet. a popular practice. 
The writer knows of one native, a leading 
man in his community, whose shoulders and 
back are full of scars, the result of cuttings 
for the purpose of bleeding. For six or eight 
years, every fall when he has returned from 
his summer's fishing, he has called in one of 
the local physicians (white) to do the cntting, 
and by request of the native himself I have stood 
by and witnessed some of these operations. The 
malady he has each time sought relief from by this 
drastic method is rheumatism or sciatica. In 
every instance he has found relief. The man ap- 
parently is well and strong to-day. He is prob- 
ably forty-five or fifty years old. 



TREATAIENT OF DISEASE 227 

It is rather strange that — hrz :"_r7 asel to bind 
np their cuts sni ^:iz.i? ^:1 iirty ragrs, and 
were little p: : as so smail 

a percentage :i .--:__:. enL Now, 

with antiseptics, sterilize-l ts and the 

best of care, '" ^ ;^^ _.i.g :s n:: izifre- 
quent. 

In treating nlcers and nmning sores, they insert 
a bunch of eagle'? ^-:— :: iQto thr ": :— :: the sore 
and leave it their : ::. it is ^- _ : the t>iis. 

Then thev dravr : : / _ _ .: - r 

pns that has att„__;:-- :. .:. I^:- - - r 

sore in snch a manner as to let tlv 
nm freely ont. 

They make an abundant use :t :_ 
mineral springs which are found in ihr -try. 
For years, if not for generations, they iiave c-een 
acquainted with the medicinal value of these 
springs. 

** Twenty miles south of Sitka," wrote Ballon 
more than twenty years ago. * * on the same island, 
there are a nranber of hot springs, strongly im- 
pregnated with iron and sulphur, the sanitary na- 
ture of which has been known to the Indians for 
centuries, and hither they have been In the habit 
of resorting for the cure of certain physical ills, 
especially rheumatism, to which they are so 
fiable.'- The hot springs near Hoonah and Kil- 
lisnoo are also well patronized by natives. 

The steam bath is very popular with them. 
They take a number of springy sticks or poles and 
make a frame the shape of a large round-top bee- 
kive. Over this they throw a small canoe sail or 
piece of drilling, thus making a booth large 
enough for two or three to crawl inside. Several 
good-sized hot stones are placed inside. Then 



228 DISEASES 

they crawl in themselves and steam to their 
heart's content. 

Some practise fasting", when sick, going for 
days with little or no food. It has a good effect, 
too. If there were more fasting and less stuffing 
there would be fewer dyspeptics and less illness. 

They have what are called '^ rubbers." These 
are usually old women who profess to be able, by 
rubbing the person with their hands, to effect 
cures. They claim to be especially effective with 
any kind of stomach trouble. These rubbers are 
often employed and they make a good charge for 
their services. 

They have practically no knowledge of nursing 
the sick. The sick are given to eat whatever they 
ask for, whether it is good for them or not. They 
humour them and think it is wrong to deny them 
anything they call for. If prescribed for by a 
physician, the medicine is very poorly admin- 
istered. It is not given regularly nor in quantity 
according to the prescription. If the patient does 
not recover after taking one or two doses of medi- 
cine, both the medicine and the doctor are con- 
sidered useless, no matter how chronic the disease 
may be. Almost invariably the bed of the sick 
is made on the floor, while the bedstead is used 
for holding boxes and other chattels. They are 
often kept in a stifling atmosphere not fit for a 
well person to breathe, with a dozen or more peo- 
ple tramping about, talking and maldng more or 
less noise in the room. They are allowed to get up 
and go out in the wet and cold, even when so weak 
from wasting disease they can scarcely stand on 
their feet. Nothing has been more pathetic than 
to see natives emaciated from disease tottering 
about endeavouring to wait on themselves when 



CRYING NEED OF NATIVES 229 

they should have been in bed and waited on. This 
is due to four things: lack of conveniences, neg- 
lect, false modesty and ignorance. 

A well-equipped, up-to-date hospital should 
have been erected for the Alaskans long ago by 
the United States government. It is a crying 
shame that it was not done. The mere sense of 
humanity should have prompted it, if not a desire 
to perpetuate the race. If only an infinitesimal 
part of the millions that have been wasted on gun- 
powder alone could have been used for such a 
purpose, it would be far more to the credit of our 
government. 

A small one, capable of caring for about fifteen 
patients, has recently been established in the cap- 
ital city, Juneau. To meet the needs of the peo- 
ple other sections should be supplied with hos- 
pitals. Alaska is a country of magnificent dis- 
tances, and natives can hardly be expected to carry 
their sick three or four hundred miles for treat- 
ment. The facilities for travel are such that it 
takes days and even weeks to go from some points 
to Juneau. The expense also is not light. One 
hospital, however, is better than none, and we are 
grateful for the one that is in operation. 

Some physicians claim that the constitution of 
the native requires twice as much medicine to the 
dose as that of a white person in order to produce 
the same effect. We know of a native woman who 
took half a teaspoonful of laudanum to produce 
sleep, but without avail. The same woman took 
strong morphine pellets according to prescription 
for the same purpose, yet they had no effect on 
her. So this claim may be true. 

In southeastern Alaska the climate has much 
to do with the health of the natives. The ex- 



230 DISEASES 

cessive humidity is a fruitful source of rheuma- 
tism, colds, coughs and consumption. Travelling 
almost altogether in open boats, their clothing be- 
comes saturated with water ; they chill and a heavy 
cold results. The women are far less careful in 
protecting themselves than are the men. While 
the latter are seen knocking around in slickers and 
tight rubber boots, the former will be in their 
bare feet and scantily clad. 

Freaks are found among the natives as well as 
among other people. We frequently see blind na- 
tives, but seldom meet with deaf ones. During 
our long residence in Alaska we have never met 
with a native mute. They are especially blessed 
with a good faculty of speech. 

Blindness is sometimes inherited, and some- 
times brought about by accidents and disease. 
For the hopelessly blind people and the indigent 
there should be a home where they might receive 
proper care and have some of the comforts of 
life. As it is, they must be a burden to their peo- 
ple and grope around as best they can. 

It only remains to be said that there are some 
natives who live on a higher plane of life than the 
average. These know better how to care for 
themselves in sickness, have better homes ^ and 
more conveniences and employ good physicians. 
As along other lines, so in the care of themselves 
and their sick, they are advancing. 



xxin 

RELIGION 

HE who writes about the natives of Alaska 
without noting their religion gives a very 
deficient account of them ; religion has been 
and is yet a great factor in their lives. 

Man is by nature a religious being. In every 
clime and in every race he selects some object, 
real or imaginary, to propitiate. He either clothes 
some object of nature, man, beast, sun or fire, 
with supernatural powers, or evolves beings out 
of his own imagination whom he thus clothes. 

These he propitiates in proportion as he be- 
lieves they have power to harm. Thus men nat- 
urally grope after the Supreme Being, " if haply 
they may find Him." The Thlingets of Alaska 
are no exception to the rule. 

They had no temples, no religious assemblies, 
no representations of deity, in short, no rites or 
ceremonies that might properly be called reli- 
gious, in early days. They were truly heathen. 

They have been called demonologists, or devil- 
worshippers, but they never worshipped demons 
nor the devil. They had no idea of the latter until 
they learned about him through the teachings of 
the Russian missionaries. 

Some have said that their religion was spiritual- 
ism. While they firmly believed (and do yet) in 
spirits, yet it can hardly be said that this belief 
attained the dignity of a religion. The Thlinget 

231 



232 RELIGION 

mind clothes everything, inanimate as well as ani- 
mate, with spirit. 

The belief in the existence of evil spirits is the 
foundation of shamanism. They propitiate and 
conjure with these imaginary evil spirits in order 
to purchase their good will, but they do not wor- 
ship them. Shamanism is one grand effort to 
wrestle with these supposed evil spirits and ob- 
tain immunity from them. But their belief in the 
existence of spirits was never elevated into a 
religion. 

" Their aboriginal belief," writes Ballon, " is 
called Shamanism, or the propitiating of evil 
spirits by acceptable offerings. It is significant 
that the same faith is participated in by the Si- 
berians, on the other side of Bering Strait. This 
is no new or original form of religion ; it was the 
faith of the Tartar race before they became the 
disciples of Buddhism." 

It is but a step from spiritualism to a belief 
in ghosts. The Thlingets believe firmly in the 
latter. Goosh-ta-kah (Land-otter-man) is their 
chief hobgoblin. The spirits of the drowned 
linger around in the forests near the watercourses 
until they finally go way back into the interior. 

The Thlingets have been called ancestor wor- 
shippers. While they have a j^rofound respect 
and reverence for their departed ancestors, yet 
they do not worship them. They believe in the 
continued existence of tlieir spirits after death, 
and even call on these spirits for favours, but this 
belief never led them to worship the departed as 
our Catholic constituency worship saints. 

Again, they have been called animal worship- 
pers. '' They seem to entertain," writes Ballou, 
' * a sort of animal worship, a reverence for special 



NOT ANIMAL WORSHIPPERS 233 

birds and beasts." But they do not worship these 
objects. They may be said to approach it because 
of their reverent and propitiatory attitude toward 
the animals adopted as totems. Their belief in an 
animal ancestry, as already shown, is doubtless 
the foundation of this adoption, while the pro- 
pitiation is due to the adoption and to their re- 
garding the creatures so adopted as clothed with 
supernatural powers. The ancient Egyptians 
were real animal worshippers because they had 
them represented in their temples and made 
obeisance to them as they would to deity. So far 
as we have been able to leam, the Thlingets never 
did this. Strictly speaking, they were not animal 
worshippers. 

Nor were they Nature worshippers, as some 
have declared them to be. The sun, moon, clouds, 
tide, etc., are thought of as possessing spirits be- 
cause they seem to be instinct with life, but they 
were not worshipped. 

The nearest approach that they ever came to 
worshipping any object was that of their dead 
shaman. They prayed to him for long life and 
success in their enterprises. In the morning they 
would take a mouthful of water, spit it out and 
pray. When in danger of drowning they would 
pray to him for deliverance. Not only would they 
thus pray to him, but to things that once be- 
longed to him. This was nothing less than fetish- 
ism, and to this extent was practised by them. 

'^ The aborigines, where not brought into con- 
tact with government schools and missionaries, 
still retain their system of fetish worship, being 
very much under the control of their ihedicine 
men, who pretend to influence the demons of the 
spirit world, so feared by the average savage." 



234 RELIGION 

They believed firmly (and do yet) in the im- 
mortality of man. For this reason they put food 
in the fire, and food and clothing in the tomb of 
the dead; placed food and clothing on the house- 
top for those killed in war (whose spirits are sup- 
posed to live in the air), and canoes beside the 
deadhouses of their deceased shamans. 

They believed firmly (and some do yet) in the 
transmigration of the soul, but not in the sense 
of the ancient Egy]otian's belief. They believe 
that the soul transmigrates from relative to rela- 
tive, but not from man to animals. For instance, 
if a nephew dies who has borne some peculiar 
mark (perhaps a birthmark) on his person and an 
aunt should afterwards give birth to a son who 
was similarly marked, it would be fully believed 
that the newly born was none other than the de- 
parted nephew and his name would be given to 
the child. It is in this sense that they believe 
in transmigration. 

The place where the souls of the departed dwell 
is known as the '' ghost's " or the '' spirit's '* 
home. The word for ghost is the same as for 
spirit. The word for soul is hi-yd-htyd, meaning, 
also, picture or shadow. When this ki-ya-hi-ya 
leaves the body, if the person dies a natural death 
and was not a slave, it goes to the happy region 
of spirits, which is thought of as being in some 
remote part of the earth; if he die in war, then 
it goes to dwell in the sky; if drowned, then it 
descends to a region below the plane of this earth, 
providing the body is recovered, but if not recov- 
ered it is captured by the Goosh-td-ka and taken 
back into the woods. 

When a person is very unhappy in this world, 
his uncle or aunt comes to him and says, ^' You 



PROPITIATION OF EVIL POWERS 235 

are unhappy where you are. Now come with 
me." Then the person dies and goes to the happy 
region where spirits are satisfied. 

According to tradition, one soul came back 
from the spirit-land to tell the living just how they 
should act toward the dead, or departed spirits. 
Weapons must be buried with them that they may 
protect themselves against wild beasts and ene- 
mies ; gloves and moccasins that they may protect 
their hands and feet against devilclubs and 
briars; and water to quench their thirst. When 
the fire crackles, spirits are hungry and calling 
for food. Then food must be put into the fire. 
Songs must be sung to lead the soul. Feasts must 
be given as a benefit to the spirits. Believing 
firmly in this, the Thlinget endeavours to carry 
it out. New rifles are buried with the dead as 
weapons of defence for the spirit. The houses in 
the spirit-land are named the same as the name 
of each one's deadhouse in this world. 

Their great concern has been to propitiate the 
powers which they believed had power to harm 
them or give them success. These powers were 
not imaginary deities, but their totemic imaginary 
magnified animals to which they assigned attri- 
butes appertaining to deity. The patron bird of 
the Crow phratry is not the small crow or raven 
which we see flying about, but a mammoth imag- 
inary creature of that species possessed with 
great strength and full of cunning and wisdom. 
Other invisible powers which they sought to ap- 
pease were the spirits that they believed existed 
about them in almost untold numbers. 

The shaman was believed not only to possess 
supernatural power in himself, but to be In com- 
munication with the unseen powers and have in- 



236 RELIGION 

fluence with them. For this reason his ser\aces 
were sought and he himself placated. 

We have been able to find no term in their lan- 
guage to indicate that they had any idea of a 
Supreme Being such as God. The term they now 
use to designate the Supreme Being is De-ice (up) 
On-Kowa (Chief) ; that is, the Cliief-above (God). 
This word was evidently coined after they had 
learned, through the missionaries, about God. 

'' The Alaskans believe in the existence of a 
Supreme Being. They call him Teki-Ankaose. 
He lives on the summit of a mountain, an arctic 
Olympus, where a fresh breeze is always blow- 
ing." 

This fanciful writer would give the impression 
that this belief was original with them. His 
'* Teki-Ankaose " is clearly the native's De-ke- 
Onkowa (the-up-chief). His " arctic Olympus " 
is a stretch of his own imagination. The Thlin- 
gets are many hundred miles from the Arctic 
regions, and yet he uses, as near as he knows how, 
their term for the Supreme Being. The unvar- 
nished truth is that so far as we have been able 
to learn, through years of research, they had no 
idea of a deity like God until they were taught it. 

A Hydah reports that his people believe in a 
Supreme Being. He does not say, however, that 
this belief was original with them. He merely 
affirms that they have long believed this. That 
may be so and the belief nevertheless be an 
adopted one. 

Owing to their belief in the existence of a limit- 
less number of spirits, the Thlingets have a very 
interesting cosmology. The sun and the moon, 
as well as the earth, are the abodes of numberless 
spirits ; they are in the woods, around lakes, along 




A TROUT STREAM 



THEIR COSMOLOGY 237 

trails, in the water, rocks, snow, and in every 
other object. For this reason all things are con- 
jured and nothing is contemptuously referred to. 
All things have eyes and ears through the spirits 
that inhabit them. Hence the caution that people 
observe when speaking about them. 

They are careful what they say about the moon. 
Two girls were once carried off by it because they 
remarked, as they were going after water, '' That 
moon looks just like our grandmother's labret." 
Immediately they were taken up into the moon, 
and the one who made the remark was broken 
to pieces. The other can still be seen, in the 
moon, holding her bucket. 

People in earlier times grasped at shadows cast 
by the sun, and would ask, after blowing on their 
hands, '^ Let me have luck." 

The sea was implored for all sorts of things, 
but particularly for sea-otter, as its fur is so very 
valuable. Big waves were propitiated by putting 
*' black raven," charcoal, on them. When this 
was done, the one doing it would say, *' I have 
put this on you. Please stop." 

The wind was talked to to induce it to moderate 
or cease. Sometimes a piece of fish was thrown 
to it. When it blew very hard it was said that 
some one had been talking about the wolverine, 
as it was believed that this animal had special 
control over the north wind. 

When in the neighbourhood of a glacier or big 
iceberg the Thlingets always talked to it, saying, 
*' My son's daughter, be very careful. You might 
come down on us." 

As the Russians first discovered and colonized 
Alaska, they were the first to introduce the Chris- 
tian religion to the natives. The Graeco-Russian 



238 RELIGION 

clmrch was in Alaska nearly a century before any 
other church entered the field. Its operations 
were confined principally to the coast tribes. In 
the communities where their churches were built, 
the priests enrolled all the natives as members. 
During this long century of missionary effort, 
this church, if we are to believe the statements 
of able historians on Alaska, did little to reclaim 
the natives from vice, immorality and heathen- 
ism. 

" It must be admitted," says Bancroft, '' that 
the Greek [Russian] church was a failure through- 
out Russian America." Minor W. Bruce, an 
American writer whom no one can charge with 
being biased against the Russians, bears witness 
to the same truth, and Golovin, a Russian writer, 
bears similar testimony. 

Judging from the conditions in which the na- 
tives were found when Alaska was turned over to 
the United States, the statements of these writers 
would seem to be just. 

The Russian church has continued to labour 
with the natives, and with those of their own na- 
tionality, down to the present day. For what- 
ever good has accrued to the natives in the last 
half century through the churches, it is entitled 
to its share of credit in the work. Whatever 
might have been the lives of earlier priests 
of that faith, those with whom we have been per- 
sonally acquainted and beside whom we have la- 
boured, have been men of good character and 
loyal to their work, living lives, so far as w& 
know, beyond reproach. 

The first religious work among any of the 
Thlingets was at Sitka in the year 1817, when 
the Russians built a church there. 



PROTESTANT MISSIONS 239 

The first Protestant service held in Alaska by 
an American after the purchase by the United 
States was held by an army chaplain at Sitka, 
October 13, 1867. This was for white people and 
not for the natives. 

No religious work was instituted among the na- 
tives by any Protestant church until ten years 
after the American occupation. 

Missions for the natives over in British Colum- 
bia on the border line of Alaska had been estab- 
lished by Protestants some years previous to an}^ 
work being done for the aborigines in the former 
country. Notable among these was the mission 
at Metlakhatla. That work has been so long in 
the public eye that no word that could be said 
here would in anywise raise it in the public es- 
teem. The results of the life-long labours of Mr. 
William Duncan with the Metlakhatla natives are 
marvellous, and no tongue or pen can adequately 
praise such heroic self-abnegation as has been 
shown by this missionary to this once benighted 
people. It is one of the most thrilling missionary 
tales in the history of the world. 

The first religious work instituted by any 
Protestant church among the Thlingets of Alaska 
was at Wrangell, by the Presbyterians, in 1877. 
The following year the same denomination opened 
work for the natives at Sitka. Within the first 
decade of missionary effort of this church several 
missions were established, and at the present day 
there are sixteen fields in southeastern Alaska 
alone where they are doing effective work. 

Some years after the Presbyterian Church 
opened its work for the Thlingets, other denomina- 
tions entered the field, notably the Friends, the 
Episcopalians, and the Salvation Army. As has 



240 RELIGION 

been said, the Russian Church has been in the 
field since 1817. 

What has been the result of this religious effort 
among the natives? We will let men who cannot 
be charged with being biased in favour of the 
church answer first. 

It could never be justly said that the Hon. A. 
P. Swineford, once Governor of Alaska, was par- 
tial to the church. In his book on Alaska, we 
read, '' The superstitions w^hich formerly pre- 
vailed among these people have to a great extent 
been eradicated through the influence and teach- 
ings of the Christian missionaries." 

" By the united efforts of the officials of the 
civil government and the missionaries this bar- 
barous practice [witchcraft] has been practically 
broken up. Some of the shamans have been sub- 
jected to summary punishment, in cases where 
the law could not readily be invoked ; others have 
been indicted and convicted, and this, together 
with the teachings of the missionaries, has served 
to practically eradicate from among them the 
chief superstition to which they were for cen- 
turies the abject slaves." 

We were not personally acquainted with M. M. 
Ballon, as we were with the Hon. A. P. Swine- 
ford, but, judging from the tone of his book, we 
would not take him as having any bias toward 
the church. In '' Alaska," we read: ''Within 
the last twenty years greater intelligence has been 
shown, in part through missionaries, — self-sacri- 
ficing and devout men, — who have sought by their 
teachings to abolish the wild superstitions of the 
natives, together with their cruel rights of shaman- 
ism." 

'' The self-abnegation and conscientious labour 



TESTIMONIES OF CHURCH WORK 241 

of these people [missionaries] are truly worthy 
of all commendation." 

'' We believe the Training School at Sitka ex- 
ercises a much higher civilizing influence, where 
the simplest Christian principles are taught, com- 
bined with common school studies, and where in- 
struction is given in the daily industries of life." 

Bancroft was an impartial historian. We read 
in his " History of Alaska," " For several years 
Protestant missionaries of several denominations, 
and especially the Presbyterians, have, amid great 
discouragements, laboured earnestly, and not in 
vain, to introduce their faith among the natives 
of Alaska. Meanwhile their efforts in the cause 
of education have been no less persistent." 

It cannot be said that Minor W. Bruce is a 
partisan of the Church, yet in his " Alaska " he 
pays a splendid tribute to the work of the mis- 
sionaries. 

In the October (1906) number of the '' Boston 
Alaskan," which is not a church periodical, we 
read words of commendation of the church for 
its part in civilizing the natives. 

A few letters from natives who have been in 
the mission schools will testify as to the results 
of religious work among them: " School life is 
for the young. Young people have good times 
during their school days, but we young people go 
to school, not only to have a good time, but to 
learn what is right, and to do good, and to talk 
English. We are here in school so that we may 
have better lives when we go away from here. 
So we must not idle away our thne, but we must 
work, and use our time well. We must try to 
learn all we can to tell our companions, who have 
not been to school, about this good life. I try to 



242 RELIGION 

keep it. I shall never forget it. This is the most 
precious time of our life. So we must keep it in 
our head. 

'' Why is it we have school life? Well, we 
Thlinget people never had schools among us be- 
fore, and we didn't know how to live right; now 
we have teachers to teach us how. It is in school 
we are getting strong. When we grow up, we will 
be the leaders of our people. I don't think they 
know anything about the good life. No, they 
don't; only we know, so we must tell them about 
it." (Mary R. Kadashan, a Chilkat.) 

* ' My Dear Friend : — 

'^ I will tell you what I think all time. Father 
says nine years old me. I thank you for you pay 
for me my teacher says. My uncle says I have to 
stay here twenty years. I don't want more than 
five years. My father is dead, so I have no home. 
My sister says ' Don't anywhere go you, just in 
mission stay you.' My sister says when five years 
gone next five year's more I'll stay. 

" I am trying to get to the Third reader. I 
hard study me my second Reader. I am a little 
boy, but I just try to know something more so 
good man me. 

*' Good-bye, 

" Johnnie Johnson." 

'' I am going to consider for a few minutes the 
opportunities of a young native woman of Alaska. 
Of course our career in life necessarily must be 
different from that of a white girl, although we 
may have had the same schooling. Our home life 
has been different, our environments are different 
and the public does not look upon us in the same 
way, but I am going to prove to you that there is 



TESTIMONIES OF CHURCH WORK 243 

a place for us, the native girls, aud a great work 
for us to do ; and more than that, that we are able 
to support ourselves. The first opportunity the 
native girl has is her schooling. . . . Here we 
are instructed by our teachers about housekeep- 
ing, sewing, cooking and dressmaking; all these 
things help us to make our living. . . . 

'' A young lady may be useful in many ways. 
She may be used as a school-teacher in the govern- 
ment schools, or as a nurse to help to stamp out 
the consumption from among our own people. We 
have several cases of girls who have done this and 
are making a success. 

'' There is no nobler work for a girl than that 
of improving the conditions of a home, for on 
the home depends the advancement of the people. 
Surely education and instruction has brought 
about a marked change in our homes and mode of 
living." (Fanny Phillips, a native of Chilkat.) 

We have many other letters from natives which 
might be submitted to show how they appreciate 
the efforts of educational and religious workers 
among them. 

A writer in a periodical says, " The Indians 
[Alaskans] are getting a better hold every year 
on the principles of Christianity. They are em- 
phatically in earnest about it, and as a consequence 
there has been great improvement. Their critics 
fail to appreciate that they are expected to do in 
a few years what has taken the Anglo-Saxon 
1,200 years to accomplish. It may be said to the 
credit of the Indians that they have progressed 
much more rapidly than did the Anglo-Saxon. 

'' We find among them even to-day men of as 
high ideas of Christian life as are found among 
white people in the older communities. The work 



244* 



RELIGION 



that is being done among them is bearing fruit 
in genuine Christian men and women." 

We could multiply such testimony as we have 
now submitted, but the limitations of our work 
will not permit it. 

Only the ignorant, the thoughtless, or the 
vicious will be heard condemning and speaking 
contemptuously of the work of teachers and mis- 
sionaries. 

No class of men and women are more keenly 
aware of their limitations or more deeply deplore 
the fact that the natives are not as a whole on a 
much higher plane of life, than the missionaries. 
But as Rome was not built in a day, nor the Eng- 
lish race evolved in a week, so they know that it 
takes time to lift a savage to a high plane of 
civilization. And what is more, if the vicious of 
their own race did not impose so many obstacles, 
even this could be done much quicker than it is. 



XXIV 
EDUCATION 

TEN years rolled away after the American oc- 
cupation of Alaska before anything was 
done by our government or by other agency 
for the education of the natives of the country. 
The initial move in this direction was made by 
the Presbyterian Church, the first denomination 
to enter Alaska after its purchase by the United 
States. 

" Within less than a decade [from the begin- 
ning of missionary effort in Alaska] more has 
been done by this society [Presbyterian Board of 
Missions] to advance the cause of education in 
Alaska than was otherwise accomplished during 
all the years of Russian domination." 

^' Were it not for the efforts of the Board of 
Missions [Presbyterian], there would probably 
have been no efficient school, and perhaps no 
school of any kind, in the territory, apart from 
those maintained by the Alaska Commercial Com- 
pany " (at St. Paul and St. George islands in the 
Bering Sea). 

In a letter dated December 31, 1882, Dr. Sheldon 
Jackson stated that there were " seven good Eng- 
lish schools in the Alexander Archipelago, six of 
which were maintained at the expense of the 
Board [Presbyterian], three of them having 
boarding and industrial departments." 

The first school for the Thhngets was estab- 

245 



M6 EDUCATION 

lislied in the year 1877 at "Wrangell under tlie aus- 
pices of the Presbyterian Church, and in connec- 
tion with its mission at that place. Mrs. A. R. 
McFarland of that church, the first Protestant 
missionary to the natives of Alaska, was the 
teacher. She found the people groping after the 
light. A little band of aspiring natives who had 
come to Wrangell from Port Simpson, B. C, 
where they had received some education, were 
zealously doing what they could to impart their 
knowledge to their fellow-men of the former place. 
Thus the missionary found the soil prepared for 
sowing the seeds of education among the 
Thlingets. 

By 1882 six schools had been established at dif- 
ferent places among the Thlingets by the same 
agency. 

As fast as new missions opened up, schools were 
established in connection with them. For the first 
decade, after the Presbyterian Church entered 
Alaska, it alone cared for the education of the 
natives. 

'* American governmental control left to abso- 
lute neglect for eighteen years the important 
question of education [of the natives of Alaska]. 
. . . Stimulated by appeals from officers of the' 
army, American missionary societies were not en- 
tirely neglectful of Alaska's necessities, and in 
1877 the Presbyterians, through their agent. Dr. 
Sheldon Jackson, established schools in south- 
eastern Alaska, their example being soon followed 
by other missionary societies." 

According to the same authority (Greely) the 
government did not assume its duties in the edu- 
cation of the natives until it was *' finally forced 
by public opinion " to do so. 



NEGLECT OF U. S. GOVERNMENT 247 

In 1885 tlie Secretary of the Interior called the 
attention of the Commissioner of Education to the 
provision made by law for the education of chil- 
dren in Alaska, regardless of race. 

After incessant appeals Congress appropriated 
the niggardly sum of twenty-five thousand dollars 
for education in the territory. Having no school 
plant of its own, this appropriation was given 
over to the missions, and government contracted 
with them to look after the education of the na- 
tives in particular. The missions " generously 
supplemented the deficient support of the na- 
tion." 

For a period of ten years after making this 
feeble effort, to do something for the education 
of the natives, nothing better was done. 

Schoolhouses were finally built, practically in 
every village. Only the rudiments of English 
were taught. No industrial training whatever 
was given in these government schools cIowti to the 
year 1908. The only training of this kind had 
been in connection with the mission schools. The 
leading industrial training school of the country 
is that of Sitka conducted by the Women's Board 
of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church. 
This institution has exerted greater educational 
influence on the natives than all other agencies 
put together. It was established in 1880, and 
more natives have received instruction here than 
at any other institution. Children from all over 
the country enter it, and in no year in its history 
could it begin to receive all applicants for admis- 
sion. Many natives have been doomed to a life 
of ignorance by our government's failure to pro- 
vide education for them. For years the school 
could receive applicants for admission only as it 



248 EDUCATION 

dismissed its graduates and those who had ful- 
filled their period of contract, and thus made room 
for new pupils. 

It is a burning shame that our government did 
not establish, years ago, a well-equipped training 
school for the natives of Alaska. Nor does it 
become any one to belittle the work the missions 
have done because they do not find the natives 
fully enlightened and emancipated from their old 
customs. Had it not been for the missions they 
would be in dense ignorance to this day for all 
effort that the government has made. 

" The Sitka Industrial School is the most in- 
teresting feature of the town [Sitka], because 
one cannot fail to realize how much good it is 
accomplishing in the way of practical civilization 
and real education among the natives. At this 
writing there are nearly one hundred boys, and 
about sixty girls and young women, w^ho are under 
the parental care of the institution. The teaching 
force consists of a dozen earnest workers, mostly 
ladies from the Eastern States. Besides the 
ordinary English branches taught in the school, 
the girls are trained to cook, wash, iron, sew, 
knit and to make their own clothes. The boys 
are taught carpentry, house-building, cabinet- 
making, blacksmithing, boat-building, shoemaking 
and other industries. The work of the school is 
so arranged that each boy and girl attends school 
half a day, and works half a day. The results 
thus brought about are admirable. Fifteen dif- 
ferent tribes are represented in this Sitka Indus- 
trial School. English-s])eaking young natives who 
have been trained here readily obtain good wages 
at the mines, in the fish-canneries, and wherever 
they apply for employment among the white resi- 



SWINEFORD'S TESTIMONY 249 

dents of the Territory, while their influence with 
their tribes is very great." * 

The Hon. A. P. Swineford and other reliable 
writers on Alaska bear testimony to the merits of 
this institution. He who has only criticism to 
offer because the missions have not already lifted 
every native to an absolute state of perfection is 
both unreasonable and unjust. The missions have 
done their best with the means at their command. 
But the very best of their schools were, for lack 
of money, poorly equipped. 

The government has the people's money to be 
applied to such work. We pay money into its 
coffers in duties, taxes, licenses, etc., and on top 
of that go down into our pockets for money to 
build industrial and other schools that it is the 
duty of the government to provide. Thousands 
of dollars are diverted every year from the spirit- 
ual interests of the church to minister to the tem- 
poral welfare of men. The care of some of these 
interests has been assumed by the church because 
the government has not made adequate provision 
for them. Schools, hospitals, orphanages, homes 
for the indigent and similar institutions should be 
maintained, if not conducted and controlled, by the 
government. 

Whose children are these that enter schools, 
whose sick that enter hospitals, whose orphans 
that enter orphanages, whose indigent and help- 
less that need homes of refuge and care"? The 
government's. Perhaps not five per cent of them 
are within the pale of the church. And yet the 
church is supposed to add to its financial burdens 
the support of such institutions and in many in- 
stances is doing it without receiving contributions 

* " Alaska," by Ballou, page 306. 



250 EDUCATION 

from the non-church classes, while all are con- 
tributing to the government. A small part of the 
public money wasted on foolish functions, naval 
displays and useless court procedures would more 
than maintain all such needed institutions. 

The new Presbyterian Mission plant in Sitka 
is an institution in which we may take a just pride. 
It was built at a cost of about one hundred thou- 
sand dollars, is fully equipped for its work and 
has a very efficient corps of instructors. It is 
the only industrial training school of its kind and 
of any pretensions in the country. The church 
that built it should have the everlasting gratitude 
of the natives and of the white citizens of the 
country who have the best interests of the land 
at heart. 

The government is now trying to graft indus- 
trial training on to its ordinary day schools with- 
out supplying competent trainers. Women 
teachers who know little or nothing about indus- 
tries for men are expected to teach such in con- 
nection with all their other school work. This is 
no reflection on the noble band of school teachers 
in the native schools of Alaska. They are well 
fitted to teach what they should be expected to 
teach, the English branches, kindergarten and 
sloyd work. But for the government to suppose 
for one moment that the present system is all that 
is required to train the natives in the various 
industries of life, or that it takes the place of a 
well-equipped industrial training school, is the 
sheerest nonsense. The teachers under the pres- 
ent system do the best they can, but they are 
overloaded and assigned tasks beyond their ability 
to meet. 

The natives show an aptitude in acquiring and 



NATIVE APTITUDE FOR TRADES 251 

mastering trades which is little less than sur- 
prising. With little or no training in carpentry 
they build their own houses and many of them 
their boats. Some do first-class work. Many of 
them are skilled carvers. What trade could they 
not master, and that well, if they only had com- 
petent and sufficient instruction? 

What they get from the mission and govern- 
ment schools is good so far as it goes. But it is 
deficient. 

The trades which apply to their own country, 
such as carpentry, boat-building, blacksmithing, 
tinning, plumbing, mining and others should be 
taught the native youth, and dressmaking and the 
domestic sciences to the girls. And this should 
be done by the government through such an in- 
dustrial system as it carries on at Carlisle, 
Pennsylvania, or at Chemawa, Oregon. Playing 
at the education of the natives of Alaska by the 
government should come to an end, and something 
real and substantial be given them. 

The progress which they have made under so 
deficient a system shows what could be done under 
an efficient one. In spite of their disadvantages 
and the poor equipment for training, we have 
some who are now school-teachers, assistants to 
ministers, skilled miners, boat-builders, black- 
smiths, silversmiths, carpenters and shoemakers 
among the men, and good dressmakers and house- 
keepers among the girls and women. But they are 
indebted to the church more than to any other 
institution for these acquirements. 

Even the few who have gone to the government 
schools in the States were prepared by the 
churches to enter these schools and, in most cases, 
sent by them. 



^5^ EDUCATION 

They should have helpful opportunities in their 
own country. They are bound to live among their 
own people and they should be prepared to do 
their best for the good of their people. 

The climate of the States is not conducive to 
their health. The wide separation from their 
kindred produces pining and homesickness which 
pave the way for disease. No people on earth are 
more attached to home than these natives. Home- 
sickness, therefore, is a common malady with 
them. If they stay through the contract period 
of five or ten years, as required by the schools, 
they grow away from home-life and when they 
return they are out of sympathy with it and no 
longer contented. Their people notice the change 
of feeling, and an estrangement between them 
follows. If their training had been in the midst 
of their people such estrangements would not 
take place. 

It should be borne well in mind that the natives 
of Alaska will stick to their own country until the 
race has expired. No considerable number of 
them will ever settle in the States. Alaska is 
where they must fight their battles for a liveli- 
hood. Nothing should be done to break the 
Alaskan's attachment to his country or to make 
him discontented with it and his people. He 
should be encouraged to use his education for the 
enlightenment and amelioration of his people. 
His education and training, therefore, should be 
given him in his own land. 

We have known several who were educated in 
the States and were wholly unhappy after return- 
ing to Alaska. Had their education been con- 
ducted in their own country they would not have 
been thus weaned away from it. This would be 



REASON FOR HOME EDUCATION 253 

all right if there were any hope of the white race 
assimilating them, and if they were not needed 
to help elevate their own people as a whole. But 
with this feeling they sometimes drift off to live 
an isolated life, away from all relatives, and their 
relatives lose entirely any elevating influence they 
might exert upon them were they among them. 

As we write, we have in mind a graduate of one 
of our schools in the States. She came back to her 
people but was discontented. She soon returned 
to the States and is now employed there. This 
separates her entirely from her relatives, and her 
education has no bearing on their elevation. 

Of course we are glad when they have reached 
that stage of life where they are dissatisfied with 
the way their ancestors have lived. And, further- 
more, we are glad when those who have been in 
our schools and return home do not wish to con- 
form to the common native life. But we would 
like to see more of them using their education 
and attainments for the uplift of their own 
people. 

"■ The natives almost universally welcome and 
gladly improve the advantages offered them for 
instruction, especially as regards their children. 
Many individual cases with which the author be- 
came acquainted were of much more than ordinary 
interest; indeed, it was quite touching to observe 
the eagerness of young natives to gain intellectual 
culture. Surely this incentive is worthy of all 
encouragement." 

Under their limited opportunities many of them 
now speak the English well and have a fair knowl- 
edge of reading and writing. Had they better edu- 
cational facilities there is no reason why some of 
them, at least, could not take their places as edu- 



254i EDUCATION 

cators by the side of white merchants, profes- 
sional men and educators. 

Our appeal, therefore, is that our government 
give them better educational opportunities. 

He who writes of the natives of Alaska a gen- 
eration hence will have a different story to tell, 
at least in part, than is told in these pages. Every 
year sees changes in the lives and manners of 
these people. It is no wild prophesying to predict 
that in another generation the entire population 
will be speaking English. The leaven is working, 
and in a few years, at the most, the entire lump 
will be leavened. This will mean a higher plane 
of life for the natives. 



us GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



178= 174' 



no' lee* i«s" 




BULLETIN NO. 218 PL.\ 




INDEX 



Abalone, 70 

Aborigines, 23, 31, 32 

Abortion, 219 

Adz, 79, 177 

Affection, 99 

Al-ak-shak, 17 

Alaska, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 

Alaskans, 28, 30 

Aleutian Islands, 20 

Aleuts, 23, 24, 113 

Amusements, 100, 204, 205 

Ancestor Worship, 232 

Ancestry, 173 

Angoon, 143, 195 

Animals, 107, 164, 232, 233 

Appearance, 64 

Archipelago, 18 

Arctander, J. W., 32 

Area, 18 

Art, 175, 177 

Article, 40 

Asia, 32 

Asiatics, 31 

Atlas (old woman), 186 

Auks, 25, 26 

Aunt, 39 

Aurora Borealis, 163 

Authority, 44, 61 

Ballou, M. M., 53, 65, 68, 216, 
217, 225, 227, 232, 240, 
249 

Bancroft, H. H., 32, 116, 216, 
217, 223, 238, 241 

Banquets, 111 

Basketry, 76, 85-91 

Basket-weaving, 89 

Bath, 227 

Beaches, 53 

Bead-work, 78 

Bear, 74 

Bear Totem, 170, 171 



Beauty, 70, 131 

Beaver, 185-6 

Berries, 20, 108-9, 159, 172 

Birds, 21 

Birth, 45, 161-2 

Biting, 50 

Boston, 24 

Boston Alaskan, 241 

Blanket, 64, 76 

Blarney Stone, 191 

Bleeding, 226 

Blindness, 230 

Bluejay, 187 

Bracelets, 67, 68 

Brass Band, 203 

Bridegroom, 209 

Brother, 38 

Bruce, Minor W., 19, 28, 181, 

238 241 
Burial, 118, 136, 137, 147, etc. 

Camps, 59 

Canada, 17 

Canneries, 2, 72 

Canoe, 26, 79 

Canoe-building 78, 79 

Canoe-racing, 81 

Carving, 75 

Caste, 44, 56, 59, 116, 117, 118, 

173, 193 
Celery, 110 
Changes, 62, 254 
Chant, 143, 160, 204 
Character, 17, 21 
Charms, 163 
Chastity, 214, 215 
Chich'g, 173 

Chief, 56, 61, 115, 139, 201, 236 
Children, 44, 45, 60, 200 
Chilkat River, 156, 165, 166, 

191 
Chilkats, 25, 26, 82, 115 



255 



^56 



INDEX 



Chinese, 28, 73 

Chinook, 36, 43 

Christianity, 243 

Chuk-a-nady, 25 

Chukchi, 31, 32 

Church, 63, 238, 239, 240, 

241 
Citizenship, 42 
Civilization, 244 
Claims, 86, 149 
Clans, 25, 170, 178, 179 
Classes, 61 
Climate, 19, 229 
Clothes, 64 
Coastline, 18 
Community, 53 
Compensation, 200 
Conflicts, 115 
Congress, 247 
Consumption, 221-3 
Contagion, 223 
Contempt, 95 
Cooking, 48, 111 
Cordage, 73 
Corruptions, 36 
Cosmology, 236-7 
Cottages, 57 
Crabapples, 109 
Crafty, 96 
Creation, 184 
Creator, 184 

Cremation, 119, 150, 151, 153 
Crests, 25, 169, 175, 179 
Crime, 45, 193. 217, 218 
Crow, 25, 69, 77, 165, 170, 171, 

172, 182-3, 235 
Cunning, 97 
Customs, 33, 112 

Dall, \Vm. n., 28, 46, 170, 172 
Dance-halls, 205 
Dancing, 143-4 
Damages, 173, 195 
Darwinians, 172 
Da-se-ton, 185 
Davis, Samuel, 181 
Dead-houses, 119, 137 
Death, 135, 137 
Debauchery, 215, 216 
Deer, 40 



Deformities, 230 

Degeneracy, 34 

Deity, 231, 233, 235 

De-ke-onkowa, 236 

Delicacies, 107 

Delivery, 46 

Demonologists, 231 

Designs, 121, 175 

Devilfish, 123, 188 

Diseases, 154, 221, etc. 

Disgrace, 126, 213 

Divisions, 25, 170-1 

Dogs, 49, 151, 209 

Dog-salmon, 103 

Domestic Life, 47 

Dose, 229 

Douglas, 25, 198 

Dowry, 127, 129, 201 

Doxology, 39 

Dreams, 106 

Dress, 64 

Drowning, 165, 199 

Drum, 142, 144, 160, 161, 203 

Ducks, 108 

Duk-dain-ton, 25 

Duk-la-wady, 25 

Duncan, Wm., 42, 172, 239 

Dyes, 88, 89, 121 

Eagle, 122, 165, 170, 178, 191 

Earrings, 66, 67, 144 

Earthquake, 186 

Edgecumbe, 191 

Education, 245 

Embalming, 151 

Emblems, 35, 169 

Emmons, G. T., 86 

Endurance, 99 

English, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 240, 

254 
Enlightenment, 22 
Enterprise, 82, 83 
Eskimo, 17, 23, 24 
Ethics, 212, 214 
Evil Spirits, 162, 232 

Face-painting, 69 
False Teeth, 210-11 
Families, 23, 25 
Family, 45, 47 



INDEX 



257 



Fasting, 140, 155, 228 

Father, 37, 44 

Feasts, 59, 60, 135, 150, 204, 235 

Fetich, 158, 233 

Feuds, 114, 139 

Fibre, 73 

Fickle, 98 

Fight at Hootz-na-00, 200 

Finery, 65 

Fish, 21, 103 

Fisheries, 22 

Fishing, 72 

Fish-traps, 73 

Flags, 141, 206 

Flood, 188 

Flour, 111 

Flowers, 20 

Fluency, 101 

Folk-lore, 181 

Fowl, 108 

Freaks, 230 

Frobese, J. E., 171 

Frog, 170, 171, 180 

Fruits, 109 

Furs, 74 

Gambling, 122 

Gambling Sticks, 122, 123 

Games, 205-6 

Genealogy, 175 

Gender, 40 

Generic, 40 

Generosity, 199 

Ghost, 165, 232 

Giant, 184 

Giving, 199-200, 247 

Glacier, 237 

Golovin, 238 

Goosh-ta-kah, 165, 232, 234 

Gossiping, 50, 58 

Government, 193, 229, 245 

Grampus, 165, 179, 180 

Gratitude, 102 

Greek Church, 238 

Greely, Major A. W., 246 

Guests, 141, 174, 199 

Gum, 110 

Hagoo, 206 
Haines, 25 



Half-breeds, 45, 132 
Halibut, 22, 72, 104 
Hanega, 25 
Harbours, 18 
Hat, 180, 199 
Headgear, 65 
Heirlooms, 142, 144, 147 
Herring, 22, 104, 105 
Higginson, Ella, 24 
High-caste, 56, 59, 68, 136, 178, 

198 
Hobgoblin, 165 
Hoonahs, 74 
Hootz, 173 
Hootz-hit, 178 
Hootz-na-oo, 200 
Hootz-na-003, 26, 145 
Homesickness, 252 
Hospital, 229 
Hospitality, 99, 173 
Hot, 173 
Hounding, 95 
Houses, 54, 55 
House Totems, 189 
Humour, 207 
Humpbacks, 224 
Hunting, 74 
Husband, 44 
Button, P. C, 222, 225 
Hydaburg, 83 
Hydahs, 24, 74, 83, 112, 180 

Iceberg, 187 
Idiocy, 224 
Idolatry, 170 
Idols, 169, 170 
Ikt, 61, 154, etc., 233 
Immorality, 213 
Immortality, 234 
Implements, 116 
Independence, 92 
Indians, 23, 28, 29 
Indian Training, 243-4 
Industries, 22, 72 
Infanticide, 121 
Insanity, 224 
Islanders, 33 
Islands, 18 
Insults, 94 
Italy, 17 



258 



INDEX 



Jackson, Sheldon, 17, 19, 23, 

181, 246 
Japanese, 20, 28, 29, 30, 31, 

32, 34 
Jealousy, 96, 115, 144 
Jewellery, 67 
Johnson, Johnny, 242 
Juneau, 25, 26 

Kaaks, 25 

Kadashan, M. R., 242 

Ka-ga-ne-e-thloot, 164 

Kak-sudy, 25 

Kamchatka, 31, 34 

Kassan, 81 

Katlian, 113 

Keet, 69, 173, 179, 180 

Keet-hit, 178 

Killisnoo, 26, 185, 227 

Kin-da-goosh, 165, 166 

Klawock, 25 

Kle-na-dy, 25 

Klinquan, 177 

Klondike, 75, 82 

Kluckwan, 57, 83, 88, 117, 

190, 191 
Kluk-na-hudy, 25 
Kok-won-ton, 25, 179-80 
Koreans, 32 
Kot, 88 
Ko-te-a, 169 

Labret, 08, 237 

Land-otter, 165 

Language, 24, 26, 35, etc. 

Laws, 202 

Legends, 140, 181, etc., 189 

Levirate marriage, 129 

Liabilities, 198 

Life for life, 193 

Lineage, 174 

Liquor, 215, etc. 

Llwyd, J. P. D., 30 

Loans, 199 

Love-potions, 164, 167 

Low-caste, 59, 60, 173 

Man's Totem, 171 
Manumission, 118 



Marriage, 124, 173, 209, 212, 

213, 214 
Masks, 137, 190 
Massacre, 96, 113 
McFarland, A. R., 246 
Measles, 223 
Measures, 108 

Medicine-men (see Shaman) 
Medicines, 167, 226 
Metlakhatla, 239 
Mexico, 17 
Mines, 22 
Mining, 73-4 
Missionaries, 41, 148, 217, 240, 

241 
Missions, 239, 245 
Mitkeen, 96 
Moccasins, 76 
Modesty, 146 
Mongolian, 28, 30, 31 
Morality, 212 
Mortality, 222 
Mortuary Poles, 152, 177 
Mosquito, 184-5 
Mo ther-of -baskets, 88, 115 
Mountains, 18 
Mourners, 147, 148 
Mummies, 151 
Murder, 193, 218 
Museum, 178-180 
Music, 203 
Myths, 181 

Nagon, 123 
Names, 36, 37, 60 
Nature Worship, 233 
Naukth, 88 
Navigation, 18 
Negro, 33, 210 
Nephew, 38, 45, 129 
Niece, 45 
Nicknames, 36 
Norway, 17 
Nouns, 38 
Nursing, 226, 228 
Nush-ke-ton, 25 

Obligations, 138, 219 
Observant, 100 
Oils, 22, 104 



INDEX 



259 



Oolikan, 104, 105, 106, 107, 

165 
Omens, 162-3 
On-kow-wa, 61 
Ophthalmia, 224 
Ordeals, 167 

Origin, 27-34, 172, 184, 185 
Original Beliefs, 232 
Original Diseases, 224 
Origin of Caste, 59 
Origin of Totemism, 172 
Ornamentation, 66 
Orphan, 44 

Packing, 75 

Pappoose, 46 

Paraphernalia, 61, 142, 155, 

173 
Parental Laxness, 47 
Peritonitis, 227 
Petersburg, 25 
Phillips, Fanny, 243 
Philter, 164 
Phonograph, 207, 210 
Phratries, 60, 141, 170, 171, 

179 
Politic, 97 
Polyandry, 47 
Polygamy, 120 
Population, 23 
Potlatches, 56, 62, 93, 135, 140, 

141, 142, 143 
Pottery, 78 
Pott's Disease, 224 
Preacher, 140 
Presbyterian Church, 247 
Presbyterian Mission, 57 
Presbyterians, 239-47, 250 
Prisoners of War, 113 
Privacy, 58 
Profanity, 220 
Progress, 251 
Pronouns, 40 
Property, 93, 96, 132, 137-8, 

199, 202 
Prophet, 159 

Protestant Church, 239-47 
Protestants, 239 
Public Utilities, 56, 57 
Punishment, 47, 156, 202 



Quarrels, 50, 58, 139 
Quass, 216 

Racing, 81 
Rank, 50, 173 

Raven, 165, 188, 204, 235 
Relatives, 44 
■Religion, 231 
Replogle, Chas., 29 
Resources, 21 
Responsibility, 196 
Revenge, 96 
Rings, 66 
"Rubbers," 228 
Rum, 217 

Russians, 31, 113, 114, 216, 
223, 237, 238 

Sacrifice of Slaves, 117, 118 
Sailors, 223 
Salmon, 103, 104 
Samhat (chief), 81 
San Francisco, 19 
Sanitation, 57, 225 
Saw-mills, 22 
School, 63, 245-51 
Sculpin, 182 
Seal, 74, 104, 107 
Sea-otter, 74 
Seaweed as Food, 110 
Self-supporting, 72 
Sensitiveness, 93 
Sensuality, 215 
Sentence, 41 
Servants, 51 
Settlements, 193-4 
Seward, Wm. H., 29 
Sewerage, 225 
Sewing, 50, 76 
Shacks, 54 
Sha-he-he, 162 

Shaman, 61, 155, 157, 159, 233 
Shamanism, 154-161, 232, 235 
Shame, 95, 96, 118, 213 
Shark, 153 
Shellfish, 108 
Singing, 204 
Sister, 38, 189 

Sitka, 20, 24, 25, 29, 57, 201, 
248 



260 



INDEX 



Sitkans, 24, 25, 74, 96 

Sitka, Training School, 241, 

248 
Skagway, 25 
Skoog-wa, 192 

Slave, 61, 68, 92, 116, 117, 118 
Slavery, 119 
Smallpox, 223 
Smoking, 220 
Sociability, 99 
Social Life, 57-8 
Socials, 100, 205 
Society, 59 
Soldiers, 194, 216 
Songs, 152, 180, 203, 204 
Spawn, 106 
Speech, 38, 100-1 
Spirit, 119, 149, 154, 150, 159, 

162, 232, 236 
Spirit-land, 119, 149, 235 
Spiritualism, 232 
Sports, 203-6 
Springs, 227 

Standard of Morality, 132, 212 
Status, 50 
Steamboat, 210 
Stikeens, 25, 29 
Stolid, 98 
Strangulation, 45 
Sub-totems, 170-1 
Suicide, 195, 218 
Summer, 59 

Superstitions, 125, 154, 162, 240 
Supreme Being, 231, 236 
Surveillance, 215 
Suspicious, 83, 96 
Swineford, A. P., 20, 29, 72, 

216, 240, 249 
Syphilis, 223 

Taciturn, 59 
Takoos, 25 
Taku River, 117 
Taste, 65 

Tattooing, 69, 117, 121 
Teachers, 41, 217 
Temperature, 20 
Theft, 217-18 

Thlingets, 23, 25, 26, 33, 35, 
etc., 58, 59, 72 



Thunder Bird, 186 

Tinneh, 23, 24 

Tobacco, 220 

Tolth, 87 

Tongass, 25 

Too-da-hook, 87 

Tools, 55 

Toothache, 221 

Torture, 156 

Totem, 56, 75, 141, 233 

Totemism, 168-180 

Totem Poles, 133, 138, 168, 

175-7 
Toughening Process, 120 
Tourist, 24, 28, 86, 176 
Town-sites, 18, 53 
Tradition, 00, 235 
Traffic, 82 
Traits, 33, 92 

Transmigration of Soul, 234 
Trapping, 74 
Travel, 23, 28 
Treachery, 101, 113 
Treadwell, 74 

Tribes, 23, 24, 25, 26, 37, 56, 170 
Truth, 219 
Tschak, 25, 77 
Tsimpshean, 24, 32, 42 
Tuberculosis, 222 
Twins, 121, 162-3 
Tzow (hat), 180 

Ulcers, 227 
Uncles, 45 

Vanity, 93, 120 
Vegetables, 109-10 
Vegetation, 20 
Venereal Diseases, 223 
Venison, 22 
Verbs, 40 
Vices, 220 
Villages, 18, 53, 55 
Virtue, 219 
Vocabulary, 39 
Volcanoes, 19 

War, 112 
War-canoes, 81 
Washing, 49-50 



INDEX 



261 



Washington, D. C, 20 

Water System, 57 

Wealth, 61 

Weights, 87, 108 

Whale-killer, 69 

Whales, 188, 189, 190 

Whale Tribe, 185 

Whooping-cough, 223 

Widows, 147, 152, 163, 199 

Wife, 44, 50-1 

Wig, 210 

Willard, E. S., Mrs., 100 

Winter, 59 

Witch, 96, 155, 156, 157, 158 



Witchcraft, 125, 154, 158, 162 
Witch-medicine, 157, 158 
Wolf, 170, 171, 186 
Woman's Totem, 171 
Word-building, 35 
Worm, 190 
Worm-dish, 115 
Wrangell, 114 

Yak, 26, 78 
Yakutat, 24, 25, 113 
Yalkth, 25, 69 
Yalkth-hit, 178 
Yana-ate, 110 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



31^77 -X 



I 



